Salt Water
by ReginaaPhalange
Summary: When a small-town, Alaskan girl moves to Bon Temps, she unwillingly catches the eye of none other than Eric Northman and is thrown into all the vampire drama. What is she anyways, besides a feisty psychic? Follows events from Season 2 on. Eric/OC. Rated M for language, violence, and sexual content, just like the show.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The warm breeze blew on my pale skin as I drove down the country road. I struggled to roll the window down a bit more with the old fashioned crank, thirsting for more air. It sure was hot in Louisiana. And humid. And very green. Nothing I was used to.

The rental car creaked as it drove on, getting on my last nerve.

 _Suck it up_ , I told myself. This junker car was all I could afford. I knew when I came down here things were going to be tight. I saved whatever I could from my barista job in Alaska, but it wasn't like that was a high paying job. It was just supposed to be a little extra cash to get me through college. But now, I had to drop everything.

Moving down south was not part of my plan, not even remotely. But my dad lived down here in Shreveport, and being that he was dying, I needed to come down to take care of him. He had Alzheimer's, which had gotten progressively worse since the accident. About a month ago, he fell down two flights of stairs and knocked his head up pretty good. He had the Alzheimer's for a few years before that, so like he needed another thing to shake up his memory.

I tried to tell myself not feel bad for him. I'd never had the best relationship with my father. He walked out on my mom when I was eight and didn't even bother coming to the funeral when she died six years ago in a car accident. Didn't so much as give me call, just sent a card that said, "Sorry for your loss. Love, Dad."

He was truly just an awful person, and he didn't deserve my sympathy. But Alzheimer's was such an ugly disease. He didn't even remember my mom, or what he did to me and her. He hardly even remembered me; apparently he talked about me fondly to his nurses all the time, but anytime I visited, he didn't even recognize me. It was hard to stay mad at somebody when they couldn't remember who they were. And since him and I were the only family we had left, I felt obligated to spend some time, however depressing, with my dad before he passed.

His health had been deteriorating rapidly, and nobody knew exactly how much time he had left. Therefore, I pretty much just up and left Alaska without a moment's notice. With my lack of savings, all I could afford at the time was a cheap motel in Bon Temps, a small town just a little outside of Shreveport. I would have rather had a place to stay in the actual city, where my father's nursing home was, but this just had to do.

When the car finally pulled into the motel parking lot, I grabbed my single duffel bag and headed in, breathing in the Louisiana air. The woman at the front desk greeted me kindly in her strong southern accent as I strode up to her.

"Hi, I already have a reservation," I said.

"Alrighty," she hummed. "What's it under?"

"It should be under Eldoris. Lissa Eldoris."

* * *

Chapter 1

"Okay, Miss Eldoris, you'll be in room 17," she said as she held out the key. I took them cautiously, careful not to touch her hand in the process. I wasn't in the mood for another "episode" at the moment.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

I unpacked my bag quickly, as I didn't have much to begin with. I turned on the TV, hoping to procrastinate on the inevitable, but the motel only carried two basic channels. When both proved to be uninteresting, I decided it was time to suck it up and go.

The drive to Shreveport wasn't nearly as bad as the drive from the airport had been, but the aged rental car still squeaked and groaned, much to my annoyance. I chewed half my lip off out of anxiousness. It'd been over a year since I saw my dad, and I had no idea what kind of shape he was in now after the accident.

The nursing home looked as depressing as it had a year ago. Walking in, I saw the same frumpy old lady that was here last time still working the desk. She seemed still just as bitter, not even bothering to look up from her paperwork as I walked over.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Bruce Eldoris, I'm his daughter," I explained.

"Room 6, down the first hallway to the left," she said in a slightly agitated, monotone voice.

Nodding my head nervously, I made my way to the room. I stopped just outside the door, trying to work up the nerve to go in. The sound of an old sitcom on a TV turned up too loud was coming from the room. I sucked in a deep breath.

My father sat in one of those hospital recliners, squinting up at the TV. Beside him on a bedside table were a half-eaten meatloaf and some mac and cheese. The lights were off and the curtains closed, so the only light in the room was the one the TV gave off.

"Dad?" I practically whispered. He didn't move a muscle, he mustn't have heard me.

"Dad!" I said louder.

He turned and looked at me, and to my surprise, his face lit up.

"Hey, hey, hey!" he exclaimed. "Get in here. How are you?"

"How are _you_?" I said, shocked that he recognized me. "Wow you seem to be doing better than I thought."

"I'm good baby cakes, doing better now that you're here." He managed to sit up better and wave me in. I took careful steps towards him. "I've missed you so much, Nancy."

I stopped in my tracks. _Nancy? So he doesn't remember_ …

"No Dad, it's me… Lissa?" He squinted at me, trying to place my name. I sighed. "Your daughter?" I asked with a hint of impatience in my voice. I knew it wasn't his fault, but I didn't have any patience for him before he got this disease.

Still there was no recognition in his eyes. I groaned internally. "Alessandra?"

Everyone always called me Lissa, but my dad was the only one who used my full name. It's not that I hated my name, but it reminded me of too many bad memories. It was too formal of a name anyways.

"Alessandra…" he said inquisitively. I could see the gears turning in his head, and for a moment, I could've sworn I saw something click. But then he shook his head and held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Alessandra. What a beautiful name," he said as if he was meeting someone for the first time, which I guess to him, he was. Not wanting to be rude, I held out my hand and reached for his outstretched one.

 _It was the evening time, there were a couple nurses standing around my dad. One was checking his blood pressure, the other was typing on a mobile computer, and the last was trying to coax him into taking his medicine._

 _"Bruce, come on, please take your medicine, you'll feel so much better," said the nurse with ashy brown hair. She wore pink scrubs and a name tag that read "Savannah"._

 _"You're such a sweet lady," my dad crooned. "So much like my Alessandra…"_

 _"Alessandra would want you to take these," Savannah pleaded, offering him the pills._

 _"My sweet Alessandra…" he whispered before starting a huge coughing fit. Savannah held a handkerchief up to his mouth and he grabbed on. A while passed before he pulled it away from his face, stained in blood. He looked god awful._

 _"Just take these," Savannah said softly, and my dad finally accepted the pills._

I shook my head to clear the vision as I shook my father's hand.

"Nice to meet you," I said, never missing a beat. I had plenty of practice by now.

So he did remember me, or not really, but he would at some point in the future. It was impossible to tell when the vision would take place; I only knew it was sometime in the near future.

I sat with him for some time while he babbled on about nothing, watched TV, dozed off. When his nurse came in, I recognized her as Savannah, I avoided shaking her hand and talking to her by saying I was in a rush to get out. I felt a bit rude, leaving without introducing myself or hearing from her about my father. I was just too tired and too uncomfortable to deal with another vision.

I crashed the second I got back to the motel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own True Blood or its characters/plot. I pull ideas from the show and inspiration from other fanfics, but this is my own original fanfic. This is my first fanfic that I am writing for no other reason than for some fun.**

* * *

Chapter 2

"Good morning, Miss Eldoris, this is your wakeup call!" a voice much too cheery said over the motel phone.

"Thanks," I murmured groggily before hanging up the phone.

After washing up and getting ready for the day, I pulled my long brown hair into a ponytail, put on my sneakers, and headed out. My agenda for today was getting a job. Who knew how much time I would be here and I needed the money. Plus, I was not about to be spending all my time watching my messed up father deteriorate. I was taking pity on him for being sick, but that didn't mean that I liked the man and wanted to spend "cherished, long-lost time" with him. I needed something to keep me busy.

I stopped by the front desk and asked the lady if she knew of any job openings.

"Well Bon Temps ain't that big of a place," she laughed. "Don't got too many options… Oh but Merlotte's is surely hiring, god knows they're short on waitresses. With one dropping right after the other…" She trailed off as she realized what she was saying. She sent me a panicked smile to try to cover up. "Dropping out of town, I mean. Not that this is a bad town, uhm…"

Like I didn't know about the murders. Of course when I had looked for a place to stay I had seen the reports of murder in Bon Temps. It didn't faze me much, of course it wasn't ideal, but it's not like Alaska was the safest place either and I needed a place to stay. This motel in Bon Temps was all I could afford. I decided to humor the lady and pretend like I hadn't picked up on her reference.

"Merlotte's sounds nice, thanks," I assured her as I went outside to my rental car.

Merlotte's wasn't hard to find, this town was so small. It was a nice looking bar, nestled in the woods how it was. I parked and headed in.

It wasn't crowded quite yet, but there was a good amount of people sitting enjoying their meals.

I looked around for someone who worked here, and surprising found that difficult. _Where is everybody?_

I finally spotted a woman with red hair wearing a uniform and went towards the bar where she stood. There was another girl with her, talking excitedly. I waited for a break in their conversation before jumping in.

"Excuse me," I said as they both turned to look at me. "I'm sorry I don't mean to interrupt, but could I have an application real quick and I'll be right out of your way…"

"Well I'll be, perfect timing!" the redhead exclaimed. "We are in such desperate need of waitresses here, thank god you two showed up! I'm Arlene, and this here's Daphne, she's looking for work too."

"Hi," I smiled at Daphne.

"Nice to meet you," she said as she held out her hand.

 _Merlotte's was full of people, loud and busy. People crowded the bar and filled the tables. From the kitchen, someone yelled, "Daphne! Order up!"_

 _Daphne, dressed in a waitress uniform, scurried frantically towards the kitchen window to pick up her meals._

 _"Be a doll, take that out to table four for me," Arlene told her, preoccupied with helping the cook, who appeared overly stressed._

 _"Okay," Daphne said unsurely, gathering up and trying to balance the food platters in her hands. "Which one's table four again?"_

 _Arlene dropped her tongs and scowled at the frazzled new waitress, clearly annoyed._

 _"Well, I- I'll find it," Daphne said, not so assuringly. "I'll find it," she mumbled to herself._

 _She carried the trays out to the center of the room and became instantly overwhelmed. It was obvious she had no idea where she was going as she spun in circles, looking for the right table._

 _"Miss! Miss?" a voice called from across the room. Daphne followed the sound of her voice and turned to look at a woman alone at a booth, surrounded by empty plates. The woman held up her hand and waved it around to get the waitress's attention, "I think you're looking for me."_

 _Daphne gave a sigh of relief. "I'd have stood there all night if you hadn't noticed me. So, thanks." She set the food down as the dark-haired lady smiled at her._

 _"Are you new here?" she asked._

 _"How could you tell?" Daphne joked._

 _"Because you care about doing a good job," the customer told her. "Now you just keep on caring and one day you'll be the best at what you do. That's my advice."_

 _Daphne looked at her with a look of appreciation before walking off; the strange lady chowed down on her onion rings._

"I'm Lissa," I said as I released her hand from mine, processing my latest vision. So Daphne was to be hired. And she wasn't going to be the best of help around here. I felt pity for how this was going to work out for her, but hid it neatly, as not to give anything away. But who was that lady eating all the food? She had struck me as odd. I didn't dwell on it though, since people would come and go in my visions all the time.

"Alrighty," Arlene said. "Daphne, Lissa, I'm gonna go get Sam so he can meet y'all. Now, I don't mean to push the envelope, but I think we can get y'all some work here. Dammit, if Sam doesn't give y'all a shot I'm going to kill him! I'm the only waitress around here right now, and if he thinks it's gonna continue that way, he's got another thing coming."

We followed Arlene down the hall to what must be this "Sam's" office, and with a quick knock, the redhead wasted no time in barging in the door.

"Hey, Sam, I don't know when you're planning on hiring another waitress, but me and Sookie are fixing to drop dead from exhaustion," Arlene rambled on to her boss. Sam had turned in his chair looking at the three of us. He was a pretty handsome looking guy, but it was obvious he was stressed out about something. The lack of waitresses, maybe?

"I mean, look here," Arlene held out her hands, displaying her ruined nails. "Nine out of ten broken."

"Yeah," Sam said apologetically. "Uhh, I- I'm sorry. I've been meaning to- to put an ad out."

"Well, that's why these girls are here," she gestured towards us. "They came in looking for work. I think you owe it to yourself to at least give 'em each an interview.

Daphne shrugged, "I used to work at the Cracker Barrel in Alexandria."

"And I worked as a barista in a little café in Alaska," I chimed in.

"Oh, yeah," Sam nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Come on in."

"Thank you," Arlene said relieved as she walked out the door. She paused at the doorway to and suddenly took on a serious tone as she asked, "Oh, Sam. Can I start parking over near your trailer? Instead of, you know, where the-"

"Yeah," Sam told her with stress in his voice. "Yeah, you go ahead."

Arlene smiled real big, "I love you." She inhaled sharply before gesturing with her hands "Nine out of ten." When she shut the door behind her, Sam got out of his chair and came towards us.

"Hey, I'm Sam Merlotte."

"Hey, I'm Daphne."

"Lissa," I said as I watched Sam shake Daphne's hand before reaching for mine.

 _Crickets were chirping, the sky was dark. Sam was shoving a bag into the trunk of his car. The trunk actually was filled with a ton of bags, almost like he was packing. It seemed that he was planning on leaving, and something about the situation said no one knew where he was headed, including him._

 _As he went to shut the trunk, he turned at the sound of panting. A brown and white dog was standing behind him, wagging his tail and barking playfully. Was this Sam's dog?_

 _Sam chuckled, "Aw, hell. I wasn't gonna run off without saying goodbye to you." He walked over to where the dog stood and crouched down to pet him. "I'm sure gonna miss you, buddy."_

 _The dog looked at Sam expectantly, and Sam looked back._

 _"Huh? All right. One last time," he said as he tugged off his shirt. "Let's go. Come on." He started running and the dog chased after him. "See, you can't keep up with me!"_

 _Then something strange happened: As Sam ran, he started to unbuckle his belt. Next thing you knew, his pants were on the ground and Sam was… a dog?_

I let go of Sam's hand suddenly, and I stumbled backwards a few steps. I held my hand up to my head to try to steady myself. _What did I just see?_

Sam and Daphne both looked at me with worried expressions.

"You alright?" Sam asked me.

"Yeah I'm fine," I said, trying to brush my vision off and look at Sam without screaming. "I still haven't gotten quite used to this Louisiana heat. I just need to remind myself to drink more so I don't pass out."

"Oh, okay," Sam said. "Whew, you got me worried there for a second." We all laughed somewhat awkwardly before there was silence.

Sam finally broke the silence by saying, "So, a barista, huh?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sam went ahead and hired the both of us. Daphne didn't start until tomorrow, but I had asked Sam if I could start today. I had nothing better to do.

I picked up on the waitressing fairly quickly, I was always a fast learner and it didn't require a brainiac to know how to wait tables. I thought of my vision about Daphne struggling at this job wondered how anyone could really be that bad at it.

And then I thought about my vision of Sam. After the Great Revelation, I knew there were supernatural things in the world we weren't aware of. But shape shifters? I wondered if he could only turn into a dog or if he could shift into other beings. Could he shift into bird? A plant? Another human? What else was out there in the world besides vampires and shape shifters? I definitely wasn't used to any of this; back where I lived in Alaska there was daylight for most of the days, so vampires really weren't a problem. I hadn't even seen one in person. And from all my years of having visions, I'd never seen anything supernatural in one.

I decided to push my thoughts aside and not overanalyze them too much. It was just Arlene and I working, which wasn't too overwhelming, until dinnertime came and people came pouring in. Luckily, two other girls came in for their shifts right on time.

The dark-skinned girl was a bartender. When I introduced myself to her, she came off a little cold and mean-spirited. She wasn't rude to me, but I could tell she wasn't much of a people person. She told me her name was Tara and went about her business without another word. And I was totally okay with that.

The blonde waitress, though, was warm and friendly. The second she had a chance, she came up to me to meet me. I couldn't help but notice an ugly looking bruise on her eye. What kind of trouble did she get into to land her with a black eye?

"Hey, you must be our new waitress. Thank god you're here, we could really use the help 'round here," she said as we stood at the window waiting for our orders. "I'm Sookie."

"Lissa," I said as I shook her hand.

 _The engine roared as the yellow car swerved down the dark road._

 _"Bill, slow down, please," Sookie said, looking over at the driver, presumably Bill. He was pale with dark hair and his lips_ _were pressed together in a line. He looked extremely angered as he jerked the car around the windy road, ignoring Sookie's plead. "Stop this. You're scaring me."_

 _Bill pulled over abruptly, but didn't make eye contact with Sookie. In the backseat of the car, a redheaded girl wept tears of blood._

 _"I'm sorry," Sookie told him. "She promised she was just gonna look in the window. I know I made a mistake, but they're her family."_

 _"She is a vampire!" Bill roared. "She has no family!"_

 _"I'm a monster and I'm gonna be one forever because of you!" the teenage girl spat. "I hate you so fucking much!"_

 _"Be quiet."_

 _"Eat shit!"_

 _"I said, be quiet!" he yelled as the girl slumped down in her seat. Bill turned to Sookie. "You undermined my authority as her maker. You risked those peoples' safety and your own. If I had not glamoured them within an inch of their sanity, all of our lives would have been shattered."_

 _"I know. I'm sorry," Sookie said._

 _"You keep saying that! And I am expected to what? Forget this ever happened?"_

 _"What else would you like me to say? I knew when she asked me to take her I should say no, but all I could think about was Gran and what I'd give to see her again."_

 _"That does not give you the license to behave like an irresponsible child!" he spat. "She is a loaded gun, Sookie. Not a doll for you to dress up and play with!"_

 _At that, Sookie turned and pushed open the door._

 _"What are you doing?" Bill asked, annoyance laced in his voice._

 _"Walking!" she threw back at him, slamming the door shut. Bill got out of the car as well._

 _"Don't be ridiculous. Bon Temps is nearly 20 miles away," he yelled._

 _"_ _I'd rather walk all night than spend another second in that car with you," she said as she stormed off and started down the dark and wooded road. She got only so far before she stopped from a strange sound._

 _"Bill?" she called out nervously, but she was already well out of sight from the car. She gulped and started walking again. "Bill, if you're trying to scare me so I get back into that car with you, it isn't gonna work."_

 _There was some rustling and a growling sound and Sookie turned around. Her eyes widened with fear and confusion._

When I came back into reality, I blinked my vision away and smiled at Sookie. She was squinting at me and appeared to be focusing really hard. I went to pull my hand away, but she tightened her grip and grabbed on with her other hand as well, closing her eyes in concentration. I sweated nervously.

 _Oh no_ , I thought. _Somehow she knows my secret._

I managed to yank my hand away fearfully, but tried to hide my awkwardness with a laugh. She wasn't buying it.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but better get back to work!" I tried to say convincingly as I turned to make my escape.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sookie said and grabbed my arm. She quickly pulled me into Sam's office, which he had apparently deserted, and shut the door.

"What's wrong?" I tried to ask innocently.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't mean to get off on the wrong foot here, but, do you mind?" Before I could ask what she was talking about, her hands were on my face and her eyes were shut. I stood frozen, wondering what was happening.

"I can't hear you," she murmured.

"I didn't say anything…"

"No, I mean I can't _hear_ you."

 _What?_

"I don't know what you mean…" I said nervously.

"Are you a vampire?" she asked suddenly. I laughed.

"What? No, what makes you think that?"

She sighed and looked at me in all seriousness. "Look," she said. "I don't mean to scare you, but you should know that I'm a telepath. I can't-"

"A telepath?!" I cut her off. "Wait, what?"

"I can read people's thoughts," she said, pausing for a moment to let me digest everything. "I can hear everyone except for vampires… and you."

My mind was racing trying to take everything in. But amazingly, I wasn't having as much trouble learning that this girl I just met is a telepath, as much so that I was the only human she couldn't hear.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know," Sookie said. "What are you?"

"Nothing. I'm perfectly human," I lied through my teeth. Well, I was human as far as I knew, but seeing visions was not exactly a human ability. Still, I had never thought of myself as anything more than human, despite my condition. Sookie, though, was not convinced.

"Lissa," she said to me. "It's okay, you can tell me. I know we just met, but I just told you my secret. You can tell me yours, I can help you."

Was I really considering telling this girl that I just met my biggest secret? No one knew about my visions, only my mother had and she took that secret to the grave. Why should I tell this lady? I didn't even know her. But she said she could help me. How? She was different too, so if I was to tell someone, she would probably have been the one to understand.

I sighed.

"I'm a psychic, I guess you could call it," I confessed. "I have these visions of the future. I don't get them consistently, but always when I touch someone for the first time."

Sookie's eyes widened, but she didn't scream or run away or even look overly shocked at what I had said. "A psychic?" she repeated. "Do your visions come true?"

"Most of the time," I admitted. "But the future's not set in stone. It can be changed."

She was silent for a minute, thinking. Then she asked, "Did you see a vision of me?"

I bit my lip nervously. I was very uncomfortable with talking about my visions, especially since I had never really done it before.

"Yeah, when we shook hands," I told her.

"What was it about?" she asked curiously.

"Uhm…" The fact that it wasn't a necessarily happy vision made it a lot harder to talk about. I gulped. "You and some vampire, Bill, I think, arguing."

I expected her to get upset, but she just laughed. "What else is new?" she said jokingly. "Bill's my boyfriend. We fight all the time, we're actually in one right now." She paused thoughtfully. "But that's what makes us stronger."

"Oh," I said relieved.

Before either of us could say something else, there was a knock on the door. Tara peeped her head in.

"Sookie," she said. "Jason's here to see you."

"Tell him I'll be right out," Sookie replied. She waited for Tara to leave, before turning back to me.

"What time do you get off?" she asked.

"Eleven."

She walked over to Sam's desk and grabbed a pen and paper. She scribbled something down as she told me, "Listen, I have to go see Bill tonight to settle things. This here's my phone number. Call me tomorrow morning? Maybe we can meet up?" She handed me the paper as I considered her offer. "Don't worry, you can trust me, okay? You and I ain't all that different."

"Thanks," I said. Sookie seemed like a sweet person. And I had to admit, it was kind of exciting to have someone to talk to who shared a similar secret. "I'll call you," I assured her.

I was a bit shocked when she gave me a quick hug. We had just met and already she was so kind and loving. As she walked out to talk to Jason, I thought of how different Louisiana was making me feel. And boy, I had no idea how different it was going to get.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'm sorry if this is slow-going and boring. I felt like I really needed to establish Lissa's character before I could get to the good stuff. I promise it will pick up in the upcoming chapters, particularly in chapter 8. Sorry for the slowness and any mistakes.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next day when I called Sookie, we agreed to hang out after my shift, which ended in the afternoon. The day was quite stressful; it was Daphne's first day and, as I had known, she wasn't doing too well. Terry, the cook, was so stressed by Daphne's incompetence that I was worried he'd have a heart attack. It didn't help that apparently, the other cook, Lafayette, hadn't shown up for work in weeks, leaving Terry with more than he could carry. Sam, who seemed especially grumpy, yelled at Daphne in frustration several times. I felt bad for her, especially since the yelling didn't make learning the ways of waitressing any easier. I helped her out throughout the day when I could, but I would be lying if I said she wasn't annoying me too.

Close to the end of my shift, Sookie came in to see me. She was off that day, so rather than her uniform, she was wearing a jean jacket and plaid shorts. The moment my shift ended, she pulled me down the hall to talk to me.

We got into a pretty personal conversation and she started talking about her life, her telepathy, her vampire boyfriend. When she told me about her recently deceased grandmother, I told her how sorry I was. She expressed her appreciation, but didn't dwell on the sad topic and moved on to tell me about her boyfriend's new "progeny," Jessica.

"So basically you're like a stepmother to a vampire?" I teased.

She laughed as she said, "Okay, you did not just call me that."

"Mm-hmm," I said playfully. She smiled at me.

"What about you? What's your story?" Sookie asked.

I told her how I grew up in Alaska with my mother. I tried to spare her the details about my father leaving us, and focused on telling her about my life with my mom. I explained how I had been experiencing visions from a young age. I told her about the car crash my mom was in just days after my acceptance into college, and how I decided to attend school anyways, because I knew it was what my mom would want. And then I explained why I came here, everything that was going on with my father and how I didn't really have a plan at this point.

"Have you found yourself a place to stay yet?" she asked.

"Not really. I can't afford anything right now, but hopefully with this job I can save up so I can move out of the motel at some point," I explained.

Sookie looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

"Lissa?" she started. "Would you like to move in with me?"

"What?" I said shocked. "Wow, Sook, that's so generous of you. But I don't know, I don't want to intrude, you only just met me and all…"

"You wouldn't be intruding!" she told me. "And I know we just met, but it feels right, don't it? I mean, you're like the first real person I met who I feel I can relate to." She looked at me as I thought it over. "So-? So, what do you think? 'Cause I've been trying to get my act together to move into Gran's room for the past couple weeks, and your moving in might be the kick in the butt I need to do it."

Before I got a chance to think, there was a loud clatter outside. Sookie and I rushed to see what was going on and peeked out the door.

"Daphne!" Sam yelled, gesturing to the mess of plates and food on the floor. "That's right on my feet. How am I supposed to ignore that?" Daphne scrambled to clean it up.

"I'm sorry," she said, clearly humiliated.

I nudged Sookie as we walked past the mess. "If you wanna make it to Bill's tonight, you better get out of here before Sam asks you to stay."

"You're probably right," she laughed.

As we headed towards the door we were stopped by a familiar face.

"Oh whoa, whoa, whoa!" the lady stopped us. As I turned to face her, I recognized her as the woman from my vision, the one who gave Daphne the advice. I looked at her cautiously. "Is this the infamous Sookie?" she asked.

Tara appeared behind the woman and nodded. "Uh-huh. Sookie, Maryann. Maryann, Sookie. And this here's… uhm…" She was trying to remember my name so I helped her out.

"I'm Lissa, it's nice to meet you" I said.

"Oh, likewise," Maryann smiled, keeping her gaze on Sookie. "Well, you're very special, you know. I mean to have been through everything you have in your life, not to mention the last few weeks, and to emerge through all of it walking, let alone smiling, it's- Well, it's simply astonishing."

Sookie looked at her politely, but I could tell she was weirded out, and probably trying to read her mind.

"I see what you mean about her, Tara," Maryann finished. "She has an old soul, doesn't she?"

When Sookie snapped out of her trance, she gave the strange woman a big smile and asked, "Oh, sorry. I'm usually good at placing people's accents, but yours I can't get a handle on. Where are you from?"

"Cape Cod," Maryann chuckled. "Best potato chips in the world." Tara laughed and Sookie and I joined in, but I could tell my new friend was thinking the same thing I was. That something was up with this lady.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but Lissa and I are running late," Sookie said. She turned to Tara. "Call me, I miss you too much." They exchanged smiles and then Sookie and I walked off.

"That was weird, huh?" I said when we were outside.

Sookie nodded. "You know what's even weirder? Her thoughts are in another language, one I can't quite place…"

"Huh," I said as we stood there contemplating it.

"Well, anyways," Sookie said "what do you think about moving in?"

I made a face and asked, "Are you sure I'm not intruding?"

"Of course not! So, is that a yes?"

I thought it over. "Yes." Sookie squealed, but I interrupted her. "But only until I can afford a place of my own!"

"This is gonna be great!" she said, hugging me. "And I was thinking, I could probably teach you how to control your visions. I mean, if you're anything like me, you could be able to block out the visions if you don't want to see them. I know I hate hearing everyone's thoughts and opinions all the time."

"You can do that?" I asked excitedly. _Oh how great it would be to not have to have a vision every time I shook someone's hand_ , I thought.

"Maybe," Sookie said. "I'm optimistic. Okay, so we can go pick up your stuff at the motel and then come back home and then I kinda promised Jessica I would spend the night with her. Do you want to come?"

"Um," I said, taken aback. "Well it's just that I've never really met a vampire before."

Sookie looked shocked. "Really? I think you should come. Once you meet Bill, you'll feel comfortable around vampires, I swear."

"Okay, I guess," I said unsurely.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After we got my stuff, Sookie brought me back to her place. She showed me her room, which she said would be mine since she's moving into her Gran's. I unpacked, which didn't take long considering my lack of possessions, and changed out of my uniform. I threw on a floral tank top, but kept the black shorts I'd worn to work on. When I was done, I went to meet Sookie in her new room.

Her back was turned away from me, but the sound of me opening the creaky door made her look over at me. I noticed something in her hands.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"Oh," she said as she quickly wiped the corner of her eye. "Uh, just this old picture of Gran." I walked over to her as she held out the frame for me to see. It was a beautiful photo of an elderly woman, presumably Gran, with two kids on her lap. The blonde girl was obviously Sookie. As for the dark-skinned girl…

"Is that Tara?" I asked, pointing at the other girl.

"Yeah," Sookie sighed. "Tara and I are practically family. Gran's death hit her pretty hard too. She made some bad mistakes after that, but she's on the right path now, I think. I just don't see her too much anymore because she's living out with that Maryann lady."

I stayed silent. I really didn't know what to say to that. Tara looked happy with Maryann, and I could tell Sookie thought it was for the best too, but she still missed her best friend.

"Your Gran was beautiful," I commented, trying to change the subject.

"She was," Sookie smiled. She put the picture back on the shelf before turning back to me. "The sun's just about set. We should head on over to Bill's."

She lead me on a short walk through the cemetery to where Bill lived. His house looked pretty big, but it was also run down, as if it had been sitting vacant for decades. The paint was chipped and there was a good amount of dead ivy clinging to the outside walls. Sookie let herself right on in, holding the door opening and gesturing for me to follow.

I had to admit was nervous. Since Alaska had few vampires, I had no experience with any and no idea what to expect. I hesitated, scared, but took a deep breath and followed Sookie in. I just hoped would walk out in one piece.

"Hello?" Sookie called.

Immediately a girl entered the room, answering to Sookie's call. She wasn't any girl, though. She was the redheaded vampire from my vision.

"I just saw my parents on TV," she said sadly.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry," Sookie told her.

I finally get why they never wanted me to watch it in the first place. It's horrible," the girl said before noticing me. "Who's she?"

"Jessica, this is Lissa," Sookie said as the girl stared at me almost hungrily. _Yeesh_. "Um, where's Bill?"

"I have no idea," Jessica complained, finally taking her eyes off me. "All he told me was, 'Jessica, I have errands to run. Errands which do not require your presence. So remain here and do your best to stay out of trouble while I'm gone.'" She shook her head angrily. "And I hate it here. I hate it so much," she sniffled. She ran into the next room and threw herself on the couch, sobbing.

"Jessica," Sookie said, running after her. I followed behind her cautiously.

"I, um…" Jessica sniffled as Sookie sat next to her, "I think I miss them." I felt incredibly awkward standing in the doorway, listening to their conversation. But was else was I supposed to do?

"Your parents?" Sookie asked.

"And my little sister. I was always totally horrible to her. I was just such a brat-" She sat up suddenly, wiping her eyes frantically. I was startled when she pulled her hands away and blood stained her face.

"Oh my god," I said, scared and disgusted at the same time.

"Hey, what's wrong with me?" Jessica said.

"Relax, Lissa," Sookie told me and then turned back to Jessica. "Sweetie, vampires don't cry regular tears. So when you cry, you're gonna cry blood from now on." Ew.

"Well, why do you know that and I don't?" the baby vampire wondered. "I mean, don't you think I should know this about myself?"

"Bill probably should have told you," Sookie agreed.

"Jeez, you think?"

I felt a wave of sympathy come over me. This poor girl had no idea what she was or why. Everything she knew was taken away from her, and she was struggling to learn her new way of life. I couldn't help but feel bad for her. I walked over to her and reached into my purse.

"Here's some tissue," I said as I held them out, offering them to her. She took them and did her best to wipe the blood off her face.

"Look," Sookie consoled her. "I don't know if it helps at all, but I think I kind of know how you feel. At least a little.

"No, you don't," Jessica stated.

"I'm not saying it's the same," she explained, "but I lost my gran a few weeks ago, and she was everything to me. Everything I knew, and now she's gone." I bit my lip. That was exactly how I felt when my mom passed.

"But grandparents are supposed to die, and you're still alive," Jessica interjected. "I mean, with me, _I'm_ the one that's dead."

"It doesn't really matter who's dead. When people love each other, and then suddenly one of them isn't there anymore, it's the distance that hurts. And the distance is the same no matter who's doing the leaving." Sookie's words hit home for me and I willed myself not to cry.

"What do you do when you feel so far away you can't stand it? asked Jessica.

Sookie replied, "Well, sometimes I'll go into her room and just sit there a spell."

"That helps?"

"I don't know why, but just being someplace, where she's been… it makes me feel better, at least a little bit."

"It gets better, after a while, I mean," I offered in a soft voice. "The heartache- it doesn't leave you… but you learn how to live with it…" Jessica looked at me for a second, taking in my words. She glanced down in thought before turning back to Sookie.

"You think maybe you could drive me to my parents' so that I could-" Uh-oh.

Sookie stopped her right there. "Okay, I did not mean to- you know I can't do that!"

"Please," Jessica pleaded. "I- I would just sit in the car. I-I swear… All I'm asking is to sit across the street and catch a glimpse of them through the window. J-Just so I can say goodbye."

"I'm sorry," Sookie apologized. "It's just not my place. But if you explained it to Bill the same way you just explained it to me, I'm sure he'd take you.

Jessica looked at her in disbelief. "Are you really sure about that? 'Cause I'm not so sure he would," she cried, her voice breaking on the last sentence. Sookie stared at her, contemplating. I could tell she was giving in.

"Sookie…" I warned.

She gave me an apologetic glance, then said to Jessica, "Okay." My heart sank.

"Really?" Jessica sniffed.

"Yes. But we're just driving by and that's it," said Sookie sternly. "And we should swing by my place first and get you a change of clothes, because I am not taking you out in public dressed like that." I noticed what she was wearing for the first time, and Sookie was not wrong for making her change. Her short skirt barely covered her crotch.

"Well, thank you, Sookie. Thank you so, so, much," Jessica said.

"Oh don't mention it." Sookie turned toward the doorway, but stopped abruptly to look back at Jessica. "To Bill. Ever." Jessica nodded.

"Sookie," I whispered, grabbing her arm. "Do you really think this is good idea? Honestly, you know this girl about as much as I do, and I just met her a few minutes ago! We have no idea how much or how little handle she has on her vampire impulses!"

"I am fine!" Jessica spat at me angry. I shut my mouth and decided not to provoke a baby vampire.

"I wish I'd have had the chance to say goodbye to Gran," Sookie sadly told me. "Don't you wish the same about your mother?" She was right, I would've given anything to say goodbye to my mother. I never thought she would be gone like that, dead in an instance, with my goodbyes hanging on my lips.

Sookie read my expression and could tell I agreed. "Ugh, fine," I groaned.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Things should be picking up a bit from here, hopefully. We aren't too the good, Eric related stuff yet, but the whole drama with Jess's family is coming up, which I think is more interesting than reading about Lissa and Sookie trying to get their lives together. Hope there's not too many mistakes!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sookie's car crept up slowly down Jessica's street. I twiddled my thumbs in the backseat, nervously anticipating what was to come.

"Here, this is it. Across the street," Jessica said softy. Sookie parked the car on the curb. The three of us sat in silence for a minute, studying the quaint, little house. It was your typical, suburban family home.

"My daddy won't be home yet, but my mama and sister should be there."

I leaned forward in my seat so I could see the other girls better. Sookie stole a glance at me, but quickly averted her eyes. She was looking absolutely guilty about something.

"Jessica?" she gulped.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." Tears streamed down Sookie's face. Jessica looked just as confused as I was.

"Well, why are you crying?" she asked.

"Because I did this to you," Sookie choked out. "If Bill hadn't… I took your life away, and I know there's no way you'll ever be able to forgive me. It's not even right to ask. But I had no idea it was gonna lead to this." Had I missed something? Why was Sookie responsible for what happened to Jessica? There was no way she meant for this to have happened.

"I don't blame you, Sookie," Jessica told her.

"How's that even possible?" she asked in disbelief.

Before Jessica had a chance to respond, or I got to ask what was going on, the young vampire's head snapped towards the house, faster than I had ever seen anything move. Through the window, a little girl shut the blinds.

"There's my sister," Jessica said as she jumped out of the car.

"Jessica!" I yelled after her. "Shit!" I got out of the car hastily, but Sookie was so panicked that she was frozen in place. "Sook, come on!" She snapped out of it and hurried after me. Oh god, we were in trouble.

"Jessica!" she yelled as Jessica knocked on the door.

"Get back in the car!" I hollered.

"Hello?" Jessica called through the door. Sookie grabbed her arm and tore her off the door.

"You promised," she scolded her, but it was too late. The door was already opening.

A redheaded woman who was obviously Jessica's mom stood in the doorway, staring at her daughter in disbelief.

"Jessica," her mom breathed. She grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, crying. Jessica looked over her mom's shoulder at me.

"Don't. Cry," I whispered to her sternly. Blood tears were definitely not going to help the situation. When they released each other, a tiny girl appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, hey Eden," Jessica smiled.

"Where were you?" the child asked her sister.

"It doesn't matter. Just call your father, and- and tell him that Jessica's home," the mother told her. Eden left to get the phone.

"Uh, uh. Momma," Jessica said. "I'd like to introduce you to my- my friends. Uh, this is Sookie and Lissa."

"Hello, girls," the mother gawked. "Thank you. Thank you so much for bringing her back." She gave each of us a hug.

"You're welcome," Sookie said nervously. Jessica looked from me, to Sookie, to her mom.

"Aren't you gonna invite us in?" she asked.

"What?!" I said, petrified.

"No, no! We can't stay," Sookie interjected.

"Honey, your arm's like ice," Jessica's mom said. "Come on in and I'll make you some tea." She gestured towards me and Sookie, "Come on." We exchanged nervous looks before following the mother inside. We sat on the sofa while her mom disappeared into the kitchen to make the tea.

"I don't normally cuss, but you have completely fucked me," Sookie whispered to Jessica angrily.

"I know and I'm really sorry," she tried to apologize, "but I swear it was like it wasn't even me doing it. It must be those new vampire impulse control issues."

"Fuck your impulse control issues," I spat at her. Jessica opened her mouth to apologize again, but quickly shut it when her sister came in carrying a platter.

"Here's some sandwiches. Mom's still making the tea," Eden said. We all thanked her simultaneously.

Her mother yelled to the little girl from the kitchen, "You already had dinner. Don't touch those sandwiches." Eden ignored her and turned to me.

"You're pretty," she said to me. I beamed. She was so sweet.

"Why, that's awful nice of you," I smiled. "And you're very pretty yourself."

"No. I'm not," she said in all seriousness. "Got a problem with hair." I thought her long, red hair was gorgeous, and I was about to tell her that when the sound of the front door opening stopped me.

Jessica stood up as her father entered the house. They stared at each other expressionless for a split second, and there was obviously some sort of tension between them. But they softened immediately and held each other in their arms.

Suddenly, her father pulled away and grabbed her arms roughly. "How could you do this?"

"Daddy," Jessica started.

"Do you have any idea what you put your mother through?" he yelled, shaking his daughter. Sookie and I stood from the couch. "Why, Jessica? You tell me why!"

"Mr. Hamby!" Sookie yelled.

"Or I will make you tell me!" he said menacingly. Jessica shoved him off of her using her vampire strength, and his back hit the wall behind him.

"Go ahead, Daddy. Get your belt," Jessica warned. Her fangs popped out and she hissed. Mr. Hamby's eyes widened. "But this time, I'll be ready for you."

My head spun from the drastic turn of events. I had never been in a situation like this before; I had never even seen a vampire's fangs up until this point. My body went into fight or flight mode and the only thing I could think of to do was grab Eden, who stood next to me, and pull her behind me protectively. Mrs. Hamby let out a small shriek and Sookie stood frozen in fear.

"How could you let some bloodsucker bite you like that?" Mr. Hamby scolded. Why was he blaming _her_ for this? And even more crazy, why was he still provoking her?

"Mr. Hamby!" I said, pleading with him to stop.

"I didn't let anybody do anything to me," Jessica bared her fangs. "But, oh, am I glad he did. 'Cause now I get to homeschool _you_ in what it's like to be scared." With her vampire speed, she ran and pushed her father into the wall, hard.

"Jessica! Stop!" Sookie yelled charging after her.

"Jesus Christ, Sookie. Would you shut the fuck up?" Jessica pushed Sookie to the ground with a thud.

"You okay?" Eden asked her as I pulled the girl a couple steps back, cautiously. Sookie seemed okay, as she got up somewhat quickly.

"Baby, please," Mrs. Hamby begged. "This isn't you."

"You don't know the first thing about me!" Jessica accused her. "You're too dumb to know anything."

"Jessica!" I shouted.

"Oh, what?" she said turning towards me. I gulped and took a few more steps away, bringing Eden with me. "She is dumb. She's dumber than a sack full of hammers," she pointed to her father, "and he's as mean as a snake. And that's the way it's always gonna be around here." She paused for a moment in thought. I could understand her hatred for her father, as mine was no good as well, but she looked like she was about to murder him. She noticed Eden behind me, face red with tears. "So I am ending it. Right here, right now. And I am doing it with your belt."

Before Sookie or I could react, she pushed him into another wall. She undid her father's belt and took it from him.

"Daddy?" Eden cried as she tried to move towards him. I held her back, afraid of what Jessica might do.

"It's okay, baby," Mr. Hamby told her. Jessica wrapped the belt around his neck and tightened it.

"Don't worry," she growled at him. "This will only hurt for a minute." She moved her fangs to his neck. I cringed in anticipation.

Jessica was interrupted by the door swinging off the hinges. Everyone turned to see a man snarling angrily outside the door. I recognized the pale, dark haired man as Bill from my visions. His fangs were bared.

"Bill!" Sookie said, relieved yet scared at the same time.

"Jessica, let him go!" he roared.

"But-" she protested.

"As your maker, I command you!" She backed down immediately at his words.

"God help us," Mrs. Hamby whispered in fear.

"Thank god you're here," said Sookie.

"Shut up!" Bill dismissed her, furiously. "Now, someone who lives here must invite me in."

"No," Mr. Hamby said from the back wall. "No, don't, he's one of them. He'll kill us all."

"He won't. He's not like that," Sookie tried to explain. Bill scanned the room, and his eyes rested on the little girl cowering behind me.

"You," he said, pointing at Eden. "Little girl. Come here." To my surprise, she started walking around me, towards him. I panicked and grabbed her, holding her back.

"Lissa, it's okay," Sookie said to me. I hesitated, and then unwillingly let Eden go.

"Eden! Eden, don't," Mrs. Hamby squawked.

"Come back here!" Mr. Hamby screamed in a terrifying voice. But Eden continued to walk towards Bill until she was face to face with him at the doorway.

"Good girl," Bill praised her. "Now, you listen to me. I'm here to protect you. You and your mother and your father. I am your friend. So you just invite me in, and I can make everything stop."

"You can?" she asked, seemingly in a trance.

"Yes."

"Won't you please come in, sir?" The second Eden finished the last syllable, Bill jolted inside, pushed Jessica away from her father, and grabbed Sookie.

"I'm sorry," she squealed.

"Get the hell outta here," he ordered her. "Now! So I can clean up your mess."

"Please don't kill them," she begged.

"This is your fault!" he roared back at her. "Now get the hell outta here." Sookie ran outside. Bill ran over to Mr. Hamby and examined us all. He looked at Jessica, and Eden clutching onto her mother, and me, embracing the piano behind me to keep me from fainting. He turned his gaze back to Jessica's father and snarled.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The engine roared as the yellow car swerved down the dark road. I tried to digest everything that I just witnessed. Back at the Hamby's, I had been fully expecting Bill to kill us all. But rather than that, he seemed to convince the family that Jessica had never returned, and that none of this had ever happened. I had heard of vampire mind tricks before, but I never really believed those rumors to be true. Not until now.

"Bill, slow down, please," Sookie said, looking over at Bill, who had not calmed down since leaving the house. He jerked the car around the windy road, ignoring her plead. "Stop this. You're scaring me."

Bill pulled over abruptly, but didn't make eye contact with Sookie. In the backseat, Jessica wept tears of blood on my lap as I tried to console her.

"I'm sorry," Sookie told him. "She promised she was just gonna look in the window. I know I made a mistake, but they're her family."

"She is a vampire!" Bill roared. "She has no family!"

"I'm a monster and I'm gonna be one forever because of you!" the teenage girl spat. "I hate you so fucking much!"

"Be quiet."

"Eat shit!"

"I said, be quiet!" he yelled as Jessica slumped down back into me. Bill turned to Sookie. "You undermined my authority as her maker. You risked those peoples' safety and your own. Not to mention your friend's, who I'll probably have to glamour now too! I swear, if I had not glamoured them within an inch of their sanity, all of our lives would have been shattered." I shrunk into my seat at the mention of me. I just wanted to disappear and pretend the night never happened.

"I know. I'm sorry," Sookie said.

"You keep saying that! And I am expected to what? Forget this ever happened?"

"What else would you like me to say? I knew when she asked me to take her I should say no, but all I could think about was Gran and what I'd give to see her again."

"That does not give you the license to behave like an irresponsible child!" he spat. "She is a loaded gun, Sookie. Not a doll for you to dress up and play with!"

At that, Sookie turned and pushed open the door.

"Sookie?" I asked.

"What are you doing?" Bill asked, annoyance laced in his voice.

"Walking!" she threw back at him, slamming the door shut, making me wince. Bill got out of the car as well. Jessica sat up off me to see what was happening.

"Don't be ridiculous. Bon Temps is nearly 20 miles away," he yelled.

"I'd rather walk all night than spend another second in that car with you," she said as she stormed off and started down the dark and wooded road. I couldn't help feel like I was experiencing déjà vu, but I wasn't able to place my finger on exactly why.

Bill huffed as he got back into the car and slammed the door. I was scared into silence from being in a small car with two upset vampires that I hardly knew. I wished Sookie would come back for me.

"Oh, she wants you to go after her," Jessica told Bill, leaning into the front seat. "And she wants you to go after her and kiss her and tell her that you love her."

"She will come back," he said, not so much trying to reassure Jessica as he was trying to reassure himself. "When she calms down, she will come back."

Not only was I deeply unsettled by the two vampire strangers in the car with me, but there was something else unnerving me. The dark road, the trees, the crickets chirping… I felt like I'd been here before when I knew I hadn't. And then the argument seemed so familiar as well…

I gulped. My vision. I had seen all this before when I first met Sookie. And I knew what came next. I remembered the fear in Sookie's eyes.

"Bill…" I said nervously. He turned around to look at me, probably shocked to be hearing my first words to him of the night. "Something's wrong…" He and Jessica both looked at me in confusion as I said, "Sookie's in trouble."

As if on cue, a loud scream rang out from the forest. It was Sookie. Bill jumped and ran out of the car at vampire speed towards the sound.

"What do we do?" Jessica asked frantically.

"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell not staying in this car," I told her as I opened my door and stumbled out. I started running after Bill.

Jessica was beside me in half a second. "You're too slow, quick, grab my hand," she urged me. I skeptically reached for her hand, but my fear for Sookie left me no choice but to trust the newborn vampire. As I grabbed her ice cold hand, my focus on finding Sookie distracted me from realizing that I didn't have a vision when my skin came into contact with Jess's.

She pulled me along as she ran, so fast so that my legs didn't have a chance at keeping up. When Jessica saw this, she picked me up to avoid hurting me. The world was a total blur for a couple seconds before she put me down and my eyes readjusted.

"Oh, gross," I heard Jessica say as my vision spun to a halt.

"Get the car, now!" Bill ordered her. I felt Jessica run from my side as my vision cleared. Bill's fangs were out and he was holding Sookie; the back of her jacket was stained with blood and had three long tears slashed into it. Her body convulsed and she puked blood.

"Help me," she choked.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Good news! Next chapter will debut Eric! Ahh, I just love him so much, I'm excited to start writing about him. I know my past chapters have been really slow and boring, trying to set everything up, but I promise this next chapter is where the story really begins. Stay tuned!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The car shrieked to a stop as we pulled into the empty lot. A red, neon sign spelled out "Fangtasia", the vampire bar where Bill said he knew someone who could help Sookie. She was in the backseat with Bill, cradled in his arms seemingly an inch away from death.

"Drive straight home," he told Jessica once the car halted.

"But I wanna go with you," she protested.

"As your maker, I command you," he said for the second time that night. He then turned to me. "You should go as well, Lissa."

"Like hell I'm leaving her here," I said, somehow mustering up the courage to talk back to the vampire. Something shifted in his eyes, and for some odd reason, it was like I could feel a pull on my mind.

"Lissa, everything will be okay," he whispered persuasively. "You will go home with Jessica. Nothing tonight ever happened. You didn't hang out with Sookie, you worked late and went straight home to bed. It was an uneventful night. Everything's going to be okay."

I gawked at him. "Yeah, like I'm gonna be able to forget about all of this. I'm staying here, and that's final." For some reason unbeknown to me, Bill's eyes widened in shock and confusion. Before I could ask him what was wrong, however, he shook his head and dashed Sookie in the door.

"Sorry Jessica, I have to stay," I said to her. "I promise we'll call you once we know anything." I felt bad leaving her after the rollercoaster of a night she had, but I had to stay with Sookie. I got out of the car and offered Jessica an apologetic smile before I headed inside the bar.

I opened the door and peered into the dark, gothic looking bar, and the first thing I saw was Sookie. Already, they had her lying face down on a table, her shirt cut away to reveal the three gruesome scratches. A tiny doctor, and by tiny, I mean a dwarf, stood over her wrecked body, examining the wounds.

Bill stood behind the doctor, his arms crossed, anxiously awaiting the diagnosis. A few feet away, someone sat in a chair, their back turned to me, so I could only see his combed back hair.

"What kind of doctor are you?" I heard Sookie mumble from the table.

"The healing kind," said the small doctor. "I'm Doctor Ludwig, what's your-"

"Ahhh," Sookie groaned as the doctor touched her wound. "Sookie," she cried, answering Dr. Ludwig's unfinished question. "Miss Sookie Stackhouse… am I dying?"

"Yes."

"No! She cannot die," Bill insisted. "You will save her." I gasped quietly at the thought of my friend dying.

"Back off, vampire. Let me do my job," Dr. Ludwig snapped.

"Forgive him," said a deep, masculine voice that could only belong to the seated vampire. "Bill is abnormally attached to this human."

"Well, we don't have a lot of choices," she explained. "She's been poisoned. You ever heard of Komodo dragons? Their mouths are teeming with bacteria. After one has bitten you, it will track you for hours, days, just waiting for the toxins to slowly eat away at your nervous system till you're good and helpless. Then it will devour you alive."

"I was scratched by a dragon?" Sookie gulped.

"No, but this poison is similar but way more efficient. I think I've seen it before, but it's hard to tell without further testing and we don't have that kind of time." Dr. Ludwig looked from Bill to the other vampire. "Give us some privacy. I need to remove her clothing."

"I'll stay with her!" I stupidly blurted out as I made my way into the room. Everyone turned to look at me, including the blond vampire who had gotten up out of his chair.

He was tall, so tall. Definitely a couple inches over 6 feet. And he was… handsome, in fact, radiant; blond and blue-eyed, tall and broad shouldered. Like something from a cover of a magazine. His dark jeans complimented his perfect butt and you could practically see his toned muscles through his jacket. And his lips, oh his lips, they looked handcrafted by God and… what was wrong with me? I quickly forced the intrusively lustful thoughts out of my head.

"No, you won't," Dr. Ludwig said to me. "We need privacy, all of you must leave."

"Yes," the tall vampire said as he looked me up and down, drinking me in. "Come." He gestured for me to follow him, and I hesitantly obeyed. I waited for Bill to join us, though, as while he wasn't much, he was the closest thing to familiar I had with me. He knelt before Sookie.

"I will be just outside," he whispered soothingly to her. "And I am so sorry." She started coughing up some foul substance and I looked away, disgusted.

"She's running out of time, Mr. Compton," Dr. Ludwig warned impatiently. He looked at his dying girlfriend one more time before joining us.

I jumped when I felt a hand pushing on my back, and saw it was the handsome vampire forcing me forward. I reluctantly left Sookie, and was lead through an "Employees Only" door and into an office of sorts. The cold hand on my back moved to my bare shoulder and I was roughly shoved down into a chair. This time it registered that I didn't have a vision after the skin to skin contact, and I was shocked.

"Who's the girl?" the vampire behind me asked Bill, not even bothering to let _me_ introduce _myself_. I scoffed at his impoliteness.

"Excuse me?" I said, annoyed. Still, neither of them acknowledged me.

"Sookie's friend, she is not of importance… right now," Bill said rudely. But his last two words struck me. He had added on "right now" after a short pause, and he made it sound like I was of some importance to be discussed, just not at this second. I shivered at the thought, but convinced myself I was making up things. "We need to discuss what happened to Sookie."

The other vampire looked at me in thought for a moment before he began pacing and murmured, "Head of a bull."

"That's what she said," Bill confirmed. "It was dark. It all happened in seconds."

"So you didn't see this, uh, bull man, huh?

"No."

"And what about you?" the tall vampire turned to me. I looked up at him, taken off guard by him actually acknowledging my presence. I gulped.

"I- I didn't see anything," I told him. It was true; I didn't see what attacked Sookie. But I had seen what happened moments before the attack, but I wasn't about to share my vision with two vampires I didn't know.

He seemed to catch on that I was hiding something. He was in front of me in seconds, arms on either side of my chair, leaning into me.

"Don't lie to me," he growled, and I shrunk back into the chair. I stayed silent, petrified.

"It's true, Eric," Bill vouched for me, to my surprise. "She was with me."

The vampire in front of me seemed to consider this for a minute, before finally easing up and letting go of my chair.

"And you gave her your blood?" he asked, reverting back to the topic at hand.

"It didn't work," Bill said, frustrated. "You ever heard of anything like this?"

"Surprisingly, no." He sat down behind his desk. "Pam. Chow," he called in a normal voice, not loud enough for a human in the next room to hear. "I thought in over a thousand years I'd seen everything there was to see." _So he's a thousand years old_ , I thought to myself. _Holy shit_.

Two other vampires walked into the room to join us, presumably Pam and Chow (I was still amazed at their ability to hear themselves being called so quietly). Pam had blonde curls that fell on her shoulders the way Hollywood movie stars' always did. Her pink ruffled top really looked nice contrasted against her pale skin and light hair. She looked almost like a Barbie doll. Chow was a big, muscular, scary looking man. He looked like he meant business as he folded his strong arms across his chest.

"Search the woods around highway 71," Eric told his associates.

"He can do it," Pam said, nodding to Chow. "I'm wearing my favorite pumps." I had to admit her pink heels were beautiful and looked really expensive.

Eric said something to her in a strange tongue and she sighed. I wondered what language they were speaking. She and Chow left to search, not having acknowledged me once during the time they were in the room. _Jesus, what was with these vampires?_

Eric turned back to Bill. "She is extremely lazy," he explained. "But loyal. How's yours? Jessica, huh?"

"Petulant. Dangerous. Afraid," Bill answered.

"I'm glad to see you two are bonding. Being a good maker is very rewarding."

"I have to get back to Sookie," insisted Bill.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Oh, relax. Dr. Ludwig treated one of Pam's humans when it was mauled by a werewolf." There was so many things wrong with that sentence. _Pam's human_? _It_? These vampires acted like humans were merely pets to them. And werewolves existed too? My head was reeling; this was all too much to take in for one night. He continued, "Lost an eye, but otherwise he's fine."

His gaze suddenly fell on me. "Besides, we still have business to discuss."

Bill shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "What about her?"

"What is she?"

"I'm a friend of Sookie's," I spoke for myself.

Eric's gaze snapped to me, but he still didn't address me when he said to Bill, "I can tell your keeping something from me, something about this one." When Bill didn't answer, he warned, "Do not forget that I'm your sheriff, Bill. It is not wise to test me."

Bill glanced at me and I stared back nervously. Did he know about my visions? There was no way he could've known unless Sookie had told him, and I didn't think of Sookie to be one to tell others' secrets.

"I can't glamour her," he finally said. "I don't know why."

"Wait, what does that mean?" I asked, confused. My question was unsurprisingly ignored.

"Please, Bill," Eric said, amused. "It's not like you're the best at glamouring." He turned and looked me in the eye. I felt that familiar tug on my brain as he said to me, "What is your name?"

It was a perfectly simple question, but I was annoyed at how I was being treated. "It's none of your goddamn business," I told him and he pulled back. I stood up from my chair, angered. "I don't care for the way you've been treating me, like I don't even exist or like I'm not held to the same standards as you. It's fucking rude and I'm over it. I'm going back out to Sookie."

I stomped towards the door, but before I could make my escape, Eric grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back. Before I could react, he had reached into the back pocket of my pants and pulled out my driving license.

"Let go of me!" I yelled. No matter how deliciously sexy he was, and he was pretty sensual, I wasn't going to let him treat me this way. I yanked on my arm for freedom, but his grip was like a vice. It seemed like he didn't even have to really try to hold me there, he paid no attention to my struggling and read over my license.

"Alessandra Marie Eldoris," he purred. My stomach filled with butterflies at the sound of him saying my name, much to my dismay.

"It's Lissa," I spat, but as expected, he paid no mind. I reached with my free hand for my license. "Now give it back."

"Interesting," Eric said, as he tossed my card onto his desk, out of my reach. "It appears you were right about the glamouring, Bill. Sorry to have doubted you." Bill only nodded in response. "I think you would agree that this is a problem, though. One that must be closely monitored. Perhaps I should keep her for surveillance."

"No fucking way!" I objected, trying desperately to free myself from his grasp. "Get the hell away from me." Eric half smiled at my feeble attempt to escape.

"Eric," Bill spoke up. "Let her go. She is Sookie's friend and now roommate. I can watch over her." Eric released me suddenly and I stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Is she yours as well?" he asked as I picked myself up.

"No," admitted Bill. Eric opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream.

"Sookie!" I exclaimed and ran out the door, the two vampires in tow.

Sookie's exposed skin sizzled as Dr. Ludwig poured something over the wounds. Her screams rang out as she jerked on the table.

"What are you doing to her?" Bill yelled.

"Hold her down!" the doctor ordered. "Or let her die, your choice." Bill immediately moved to hold her still, and I went up and stroked her hair trying to calm her.

"Sookie? Sookie it's me," I said to her. "It's okay, it'll be over in a second, just breathe." She could not be soothed, however, and continued to scream and writhe.

To my horror, Dr. Ludwig dug her finger into one of the gashes, evicting another scream from Sookie. She dug something out and squinted her eyes, examining it. I couldn't take it anymore, it was all just too much. Too much for a lifetime, and it had been just a day when I had witnessed more than I cared to. I leaned over and heaved up dinner, my brown hair falling into the impact zone. I passed out before I could pull it back out of the way, and my world turned black.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yay! I'm finally getting somewhere with this story. Now that I've introduced Eric, his relationship with Lissa is going to become the main focus of the rest of this fanfic. Also, I'm completely open to suggestions and criticism (as long as it's constructive and not just plain hateful) so feel free to say something in the reviews. I'm really nervous since this is my first fanfic and I don't really know what I'm doing. I actually debated publishing the story, because I'm really shy about my writing, which is really personal for me. I really hope you guys are enjoying this, sorry for any mistakes.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When I woke up, I was laying down in a booth, half of me dangling off the edge about to fall under the table. I sat up quietly and took in my surroundings. I was still in the vampire bar, and Sookie was lying on the table where I'd last seen her. Everything that had happened last night slowly came back to me, and I jumped out of the booth to make sure my friend was okay.

Her still body frightened me, but when I got closer, I could see her shallow breathing. She was alive, just resting. I was taken aback when I realized her black eye was gone, just like that. Someone had changed her into a bright red Fangtasia shirt, and my curiosity got the best of me as I pulled it up to check on her scratches. I felt super awkward, but I had to see for myself what they looked like. Sure enough, just as with her eye, her scratches had completely healed. I was completely stunned by this, how did the doctor manage to heal her so quickly?

"Impossible," I whispered under my breath. I took Sookie's hand in mine and focused. I wanted to see if a vision had any answers for the imposing questions on my mind. While I always had effortless (and a lot of times unwelcome) visions when I first touched someone, having visions of them after that initial contact usually was a lot harder and required actual effort from me. I squeezed my eyes shut in concentration.

 _Sookie awoke from her sleep and found herself lying down on a table in Fangtasia. She sat up and noticed that someone_ _had changed her into a red Fangtasia shirt. She walked over to a small mirror and lifted up the back of her shirt, revealing her back, which was completely healed, void of any sign of the night's events._

 _"You're awake," a mousey voice said, and Sookie spun around to see who it was. A skinny woman with short blonde hair held a plate with a sandwich on it. She was dressed way too young, and definitely too provocatively, for her age. She held out the plate and said, "I made you a two-top sandwich. Peanut butter and chocolate syrup."_

 _"That's very… thoughtful, Ginger," Sookie said as she accepted the plate out of politeness. It was clear she wasn't going to actually eat the sad, soggy sandwich._

 _"Oh, that's the thing about being with vamps, ain't it?" Ginger smiled. "You always forget to eat. I've lost 37 pounds since I got this job. Way better than a fat farm."_

 _"Did Bill leave?" asked Sookie._

 _"Oh, he's resting in back, I think."_

 _"Do they make you stay here every day?"_

 _"Well, sometimes I just come in for deliveries, but these days I've been coming in for-" Ginger shut her mouth quickly, as if she'd said too much and was giving something away. She tried to brush it off. "Heh. Ha-ha. Never mind all that. You just finish up your sandwich and go back to sleep."_

 _Sookie wasn't buying it and concentrated on Ginger, probably reading her mind. Her eyes widened from something she must have heard Ginger think._

 _"Lafayette?" Sookie started. "Why would Eric have Lafayette in the basement?"_

 _"I just work here," Ginger told her nervously._

 _Sookie seemed to read something else in Ginger's mind and suddenly bolted behind the counter. She reached under the cash register and pulled out a gun._

 _"Take me to him!" she ordered as she pointed the gun at Ginger. Ginger screamed bloody murder. "Now!"_

I dropped Sookie's hand and blinked my way back into the present. Lafayette… he was the missing cook at Merlotte's. And he was being held in the basement.

I didn't know what I was doing before I did it, but suddenly I was at the basement door yanking at it to get in. What was I doing? I didn't even know Lafayette, and I was sure if I was caught I'd be in huge trouble. I was risking my life for someone I didn't even know. But I felt compelled to save the man, no one deserved to be held in a basement like that.

The door was locked, and I scrambled around the bar looking for a key. When I couldn't find one, I pulled a bobby pin from my hair. Before my dad went downhill, he was a locksmith, so naturally I knew a thing or two about locks. I picked the lock and pried open the door.

The basement was dark and damp. I shut the door behind me and tiptoed my way down the stairs. It smelled like stale urine and dying animals. I gasped in horror when I noticed the blood stains on the floor. And then I saw him.

Lafayette leaned against a pillar, a collar chained around his neck. His dark skin was covered in dirt and sweat, and even some dried blood. His facial hair hadn't been shaved in weeks. As I inched closer, I saw a gaping hole in his leg, like he had been shot.

"Lafayette?" I whispered. He was unconscious, and he looked like he was on death's door. "Lafayette?"

He groaned in response, and I knelt down next to him. I grabbed his hand.

 _Lafayette was lying on a couch in room full of animal prints and eccentric patterns. He snuggled into his colorful afghan and whimpered in pain. Around him, pill bottles were spilled open and scattered. A bowl full of stale popcorn and bottles of alcohol sat in front of him._

 _There was a knock on the door, and outside a voice said, "I know you in there, even if you won't pick up the phone." It was Tara._

 _"Damn, hooker. Shit." Lafayette mumbled. The knocking turned into banging, and he reluctantly got up and limped over to the door to let Tara in._

I let go of him. That was all I needed to see, that he was going to be set free and returned home.

"Lafayette," I told his sleeping form. "Don't worry, you're getting out of here."

Upstairs, I heard the shrill screaming of Ginger's.

"Take me to him!" I heard Sookie's yell. "Now!" A moment later, she came running down the stairs, gun in hand. Ginger followed behind her.

"Oh my god," Sookie gasped. She paused on the staircase at the sight of me crouching over an unconscious Lafayette. She ran over to us and I stood up out of the way to let her be with her friend.

"Lafayette," she said to wake him up. "Lafayette." At the sound of his friend's familiar voice, the imprisoned man stirred.

"Sookie. Is that really you?" he asked.

"What have they done to you?"

"Do I look like a vampire?"

"You look awful."

"I feel fucking worse. I guess that means I ain't a vampire then, which is good."

"Uncuff him," Sookie ordered, turning to Ginger.

"I don't have that key!" Ginger pleaded desperately. "I swear."

Sookie looked back to her chained friend. "I'm gonna get you out of here," she told him. "I promise."

"Where are Bill and Eric?" I asked of Ginger.

"They're resting, there's still on hour till sundown," she squealed.

"We'll wait," stated Sookie. She cradled Lafayette's cheek I her hand. "Don't worry, we'll be back soon. I'm getting you out… tonight."

We made our way back upstairs, and once we reached the top, Sookie pointed the gun back at Ginger, evicting another earsplitting screech.

"Go home," Sookie told her. "Get out of here."

"But," she protested, "but Eric will-"

"Leave!" Sookie shouted, waving the gun around to emphasize that she was in control. Without another word, Ginger frantically grabbed her purse and scurried out the door. Sookie set the gun down and rubbed her temples, stressed.

"Sookie," I put my hand on her shoulder to console her. "I had a vision. Everything's gonna be okay, I saw Lafayette home with Tara."

"Thank god," she sighed. "But at what cost?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

We didn't have to wait too awful long before sunset, and the moment it did, Bill came into the room, pulling Sookie into a long embrace. Sookie pulled away abruptly though, distracted by what we had learned only an hour ago.

"You still worried about our fight?" he asked. "Sookie, none of that matters anymore."

"You're right," said Sookie. "I'm alive and in one piece-" she paused and gave me a quick glance, to which I nodded in encouragement, "-unlike my friend Lafayette, who Eric chained up like an animal and left to bleed to death."

"What?" Bill murmured, seeming genuinely confused.

"You better not have known anything about this, Bill Compton, because if you did, I don't think I could ever forgive you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he pleaded.

"I imagine she's referring to the human in my basement," an all too familiar voice said. I spun around to see Eric strolling in nonchalantly, as if he had done nothing wrong. "The human that traded sexual services with a vampire in order to sell his blood. Which, as you know, is a grave offense." Lafayette was dealing V? Up in Alaska, there were very few incidents involving the new drug of choice. But I knew the effects it had on people, and how it turned them batshit crazy. But dealing V was in no way an excuse for what had been done to the poor man downstairs.

"His name is Lafayette, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for what you've done to him," Sookie seethed. She slapped the vampire right across his condescending face.

"Sookie!" Bill warned, clearly not wanting her to stir trouble with the old vampire. But I was proud of Sookie's bravery.

"No, she's right," I scoffed, fed up. "Fuck you," I spat and slapped Eric myself. The moment I did it though, I started thinking Bill was right to scold Sookie. I immediately regretted what I'd done, and gulped in anticipation for what the vampire would do to me. If he tortured someone who was dealing V, I was sure there was even more in store for someone who dared to assault him.

To my surprise, and relief, Eric only smirked and said to me, "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Go to hell," I said before I could stop myself.

"You've tortured him and bit him and shot him and kept him down there in his own filth for weeks!" Sookie backed me up.

"Is this true?" Bill asked Eric.

There are others who would have done far worse and you know it," Eric said indifferently.

"You're gonna let him go right now, or I swear," Sookie ordered.

"We'll go to the police," I threatened.

Eric's fangs popped out and he hissed at the two of us. I gasped and took half a step back. "I do not respond well to threats," he warned, leaning his face into mine. I breathed heavily, but did my best to hide my fear. I held my ground. When he saw this, he pulled back slightly, and then turned his attention to Sookie. "But perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement. Please," he said, beckoning us into his office. I followed behind Sookie cautiously.

Once we were all inside Eric's office once more, I sat down in the same chair I had last night, while everyone else remained standing. Sookie folded her arms across her chest and asked, "What do you want?"

"I want the truth," he said, his eyebrows raised. "What are you not telling me about this one here?" He placed a hand on my shoulder, obviously referring to me. I tried to act disgusted, but there was an electricity between us that was making it difficult.

"What are you talking about?" Sookie asked. "Lissa has nothing to do with this."

Eric turned his gaze to me, and spun my chair around to face him. "So Bill tells me that it seemed like you knew Sookie was in trouble before he could even feel her fear. Why is that?" Oh great, so this had turned into an interrogation.

"Bill?" Sookie asked, a little upset that he would betray her new friend.

"Sookie, he's my sheriff, you know I can't keep these things from him," he responded.

"Well I can, and so can Lissa," she snapped and then turned to me with a serious look on her face. "Don't tell him anything."

"There's nothing to tell," I lied through my teeth.

"Don't make me force it out of you, Alessandra," Eric whispered menacingly into my ear.

"I'm not afraid of you," I retorted.

"Perhaps you should be. Were we not just discussing the terms for your friend's release?"

Friend was a bit of a stretch. I didn't know Lafayette at all. Though I didn't agree with what was being done to him, we were still complete strangers. But he was Sookie's friend, and I could tell she really cared about him.

"I really don't know what you want me to say…" I stalled.

Eric buried his head into the hair around my neck and breathed me in. I tried to look grossed out, when in reality his close proximity had me swooning. He continued, "You smell different. There's a reason for your heightened intuition and inability to be glamoured. And you're going to tell me, now."

I glanced at Sookie, who shook her head, telling me to keep quiet. But was it worth it?

"Fine," I sighed, ignoring my friend's warnings. "I'm a psychic. There. Are we done now? Is Lafayette free to go?"

Eric studied me carefully. "Interesting," he mused. "So you see the future?"

"I get glimpses of it, sort of like visions."

"And how often do you get these visions?"

"They're inconsistent." He squinted at me; clearly my answer was not enough. "Okay, I get them when I make contact with someone for the first time. Then after that first encounter, they usually take more effort to come by. But it's not an exact science, like I said they're really inconsistent."

"What else?" Eric pressed on.

"That's it. Besides whatever that glamouring thing is you mentioned. Oh, and Sookie can't read my thoughts."

He contemplated this for a moment, before turning to Sookie. "Is that true?"

Sookie hesitated. "Yes."

"Hmm. Can you have a vision on command?" he asked of me.

"Uh, no, not really. I never really tried to, but like I said I can't control them. I don't think I could just have one on command," I mumbled.

"Well," Eric smirked, "perhaps you can be trained to."

I squinted my eyes at him. This man was just so unreal. He made me extremely uncomfortable, but at the same time, strangely nervous in a good way. I brushed off his inappropriate comment. "Can you let Lafayette go now?"

He just laughed. "After what? You tell me your brave little secret? Oh, no, that does not make up for the selling of vampire blood."

"Oh, get to the point already," Sookie said, rolling her eyes. "What more do you want?"

Eric sat down on the edge of his desk. "There's a vampire missing in Dallas, one too important to leave that way."

"Not this again," Bill groaned. "We discussed this."

"And we'll discuss it again," Eric enforced. He turned back to Sookie. "I require your abilities to help track him down."

Sookie contemplated his words. "So if I agree to go to Dallas to help look for this missing vampire, you'll let Lafayette go?"

"No," Bill objected. "You nearly died last night. You are not going to Dallas."

"Bill, I can make up my own mind."

"I will pay all of your expenses, of course," said Eric. "And yes, I will release your friend."

"And I want five thousand dollars," Sookie bargained. "I've missed a lot of work and I need a driveway."

"Your human is getting cocky," Eric told Bill.

"She will take ten thousand, and I will escort her," Bill pressed.

"I don't think so, no."

"Yes," Sookie agreed. "Ten thousand and Bill comes with me or it's a deal breaker." She and Eric stared each other down.

"Fine," Eric gave in. "But only if this one goes as well." I felt him nudge me and I jumped, startled. At this point in the conversation, I had zoned out, figuring it didn't concern me.

"What?" I asked, completely unaware of what had transpired.

"Oh, leave her out of this," Sookie said. "She has nothing to do with it."

"That's where you're wrong," Eric countered. "Her psychic abilities would certainly be of use, possibly even more so than your talents." Sookie gawked at him, but he ignored her, waiting for my response.

"No!" I gawked at his ridiculous proposal. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"You will if you want your friend released."

"She doesn't even know Lafayette, Eric!" Sookie protested. "You can't hold that against her."

"I can, and I will, actually," Eric retorted. "Those are my terms, take it or leave it." His eyes fell back to me expectantly, and my mind worked desperately to come up with an excuse, any excuse.

"I can't go to Dallas," I said. "My dad's not in good health."

"That can be changed."

"What do you mean?"

"I can heal him."

"Don't joke about that sort of stuff."

"I'm serious. If you agreed to go to Dallas, I would be happy to heal your father."

I thought about it. Was it seriously possible to cure my dad of Alzheimer's and heal the bleeding in his head that was killing him? And if it was possible, would I really want that? Did I want him to remember everything he did to me, and to hang around for however many more years to come, tormenting me? I hated my dad, but did I wish death upon him? If I didn't care about him in the slightest bit, why was I all the way down here in Louisiana in the first place?

"Can he really do that?" I asked Sookie.

"Yes," she said softly. I nodded my head and turned back to Eric.

"Fine. But in addition to my father's health, I want ten thousand dollars as well." I was still completely broke and freeloading off of Sookie, and I hated owing people.

Eric smirked at me before saying something through his intercom in that other language. Was it Swedish?

"You surprise me," he told me. "And that is a rare quality in a breather."

"You disgust me," I threw back at him.

"Perhaps I'll grow on you."

"I'd prefer cancer."

Eric ignored my remark and turned to Bill. "You need to leave immediately."

"I will make the travel arrangements," said Bill. "But I will need your credit card number."

The door swung open and Pam threw Lafayette to the ground. Sookie and I ran over to him and knelt down bedside him.

"Such a shame," mused Pam. "I was hoping I could convince Eric to let me keep you."

"No, you already have enough pets," Eric stated casually, like referring to humans as pets was a normal, socially acceptable thing to say.

Lafayette groaned. "No offense, but you ain't exactly my type, bitch."

"Can I kick him?" Pam asked in all seriousness.

"You can try," Bill warned.

"Enough," Eric commanded in a bored voice. "Have Chow fetch their car." Pam left the room reluctantly as he walked over and knelt beside me. I looked at him disgusted as he stroked Lafayette's shoulder. "I'll see you around, I'm sure."

"Oh, don't bet on it, baby," promised Lafayette. "I'm retiring. I'm done with you crazy-ass fuckers. Done."

Eric smirked at him, and his smile only grew wider when he looked up at me beside him scowling at him. He got up to allow Bill to pick Lafayette up and carry his damaged body out of the office. I continued to stare disgustedly at the tall vampire until Sookie tugged my arm and pulled me out of the room.

I didn't care that he was the most beautiful creature I ever laid eyes on, or that he oozed sex appeal, or that the way his lips moved when he said my names sent chills down my body. I knew Eric was nothing but trouble, and I continued to remind myself of that the whole car ride home.

* * *

 **Sorry for the wait... more updates to come**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I fell asleep in the backseat after we dropped Lafayette off. He refused any further help and insisted he'd be okay. I was exhausted from the previous night, and after the relief of getting Lafayette home, I couldn't resist closing my eyes for just a couple minutes…

At some point, I drifted back into consciousness, and heard the hushed voices of my companions in the front seats. I kept my eyes closed and feigned sleep, listening in to their private conversation.

"Sookie," Bill whispered. "Most of us, vampire, human, or otherwise, are capable of both good and evil. Often simultaneously."

"You can't expect me to believe that Eric's capable of anything good," Sookie interjected. "Not after how he tortured Lafayette. Or how he's already trying to manipulate Lissa." I froze at the sound of my name.

"I have had worse sheriffs," he told her.

"I don't understand how you can defend him."

"He saved your life."

"I can still hate him."

"I hate that he may be putting you in harm's way once again. And now the girl. All for his own selfish reasons. And I hate that he has shown you the barbarousness that we call justice." There was silence for a moment before Bill spoke again. "If I could glamour it away for you, I would."

"I'm glad you can't," Sookie admitted. "I'm sick of things sneaking up on me. Rene and whatever the hell that was that attacked me last night. If I'm never gonna be safe, I'd rather know what to be afraid of."

"Well, after last night, I hope that that doesn't include me."

Sookie considered this. "I know there's darkness in you. I know there is. And it scares the life out of me. But you're right. There's goodness in you too. And when I look in your eyes, that's what I see."

Silence followed, and I digested everything I had heard. Sookie was right, Eric was a monster, but why was I having these feelings for him? Could there be goodness in someone so cruel? I didn't get to think on it much more because my tired mind pulled me back into sleep.

* * *

I was woken by Sookie gently shaking me awake.

"Lissa? Lissa, sweetie, we're home."

"Home?" I yawned.

"Well, we had to stop at Bill's real quick. Do you wanna come in or wait in the car a spell?"

"No, no, I'm good, I'll come in," I said as I climbed out of the car.

Bill must've gotten something out of the trunk because he shut it before returning to Sookie's side. In his hands, he held several shopping bags. He handed one to her.

"I picked up a few things for Jessica," he told her. "I have never bought women's clothing for anyone before, but I'm hoping what I decided on will suffice."

Sookie smiled as we made our way up to the door. "See I knew it. Underneath that tough vampire exterior, you're nothing but a big softie."

"Don't tell anybody," he joked as Sookie paused to pull a pink sweater out of the bag.

"Wow, that's a lot of pink, Bill," I teased. Bill looked even more nervous after I said that, so I added, "I'm sure Jessica will love it."

He shook his head. "Yes, well, I remember when ladies' clothing stores sold petticoats." Sookie and I laughed.

"Heh, that's just weird," she said.

"Actually, I kind of miss them at times. They left something to the imagination. Unfastening them required a certain skill."

Sookie gave him a seductive smile. "I think there's a Halloween store around here that might still have some."

"You are such a tease," Bill grinned and went in for a kiss.

Okay, this was uncomfortable. I cleared my throat loudly. When they didn't pull away, I murmured, "I'll just be inside…"

I used Bill's key that he had left in the lock before he got… distracted, and headed in, hoping to find Jessica so I didn't feel as awkward. She wasn't hard to find.

Jessica straddled a young man on the couch, her yellow sundress riding up her body to expose her long, pale legs. Her lips crushed into her partner's, and he groaned as his hands roamed her body freely. I shrieked at the sight and turned the opposite direction, shielding my eyes.

Bill must've heard my shriek because he broke away from Sookie and was beside me in a flash. I heard the click of his fangs when he saw the scene before us, and he was pulling Jessica off the boy before I could blink. He threw her across the room and she fell to the floor with a thud.

"I wasn't doing anything," Jessica snarled, fangs out. "I wasn't gonna bite him, I swear." The shirtless boy stood up from the couch.

"It's okay," he tried to say, but Bill pushed him roughly back onto the couch.

"Bill, don't," Sookie pleaded from beside me. I hadn't even realized she had been there. Bill only growled.

"I'm so sorry, vampire Bill," the boy tried again. "I-I know how this must look."

"Get out of my house," ordered the vampire.

"Bill, do not hurt him," Sookie warned as the boy got up.

"I-I-I swear," he said, "I wouldn't let it go any further."

"I said, get out of my house!" Bill roared.

"It's my house too," Jessica objected.

"Jessica, upstairs!"

"Okay, let's all just try to calm down," I intervened, tossing the boy his shirt.

"That's a really good idea," he nodded to me.

Bill took several more steps closer to Jessica's friend. "Are you gonna leave, or am I gonna have to throw you out through a window that is closed?" At this point, I backed down cautiously and decided to stay out of this.

"Bill, that is just rude," Sookie scolded.

"Sookie, I've got this."

"I'm going. I'm going," the boy promised as he finished buttoning his shirt and started towards the door. "I wasn't gonna do nothing."

"It's not her that I'm protecting, son," stated Bill. Jessica's mouth fell open in disbelief and embarrassment. She made eye contact with the boy and whimpered.

He made his way to the door, but paused for a minute to tell Jessica, "I don't believe him for a minute." The redheaded vampire smiled as the door shut behind him. Bill turned to her, face filled with anger.

"We established there was to be no hunting in this house," he seethed.

"Um, Sookie?" I said quietly. "I think I'm just gonna start walking home." I felt totally out of place here and it was obvious the three of them needed to have a heart-to-heart… privately.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I can go with you."

"No, no," I insisted. "I'll be fine; it looks like you have a lot to talk about, anyways." I quickly went out the door before she could say anything else.

I took a deep breath and sighed in relief to be out of that house. I had no place being a part of whatever heated conversation was about to happen in there. I walked down the porch steps and started into the graveyard.

As I walked, I thought about everything I had gotten myself into. Four days I had been in Bon Temps, and already at least three people knew about my secret, two of them vampires. I moved in with a girl I just met and now I was going on a trip to find some missing vampire I didn't even know. This was absolute craziness.

A certain headstone caught my eye and I stopped to look at it.

WILLIAM COMPTON

BELOVED HUSBAND

FATHER AND BRAVE SOLDIER

1835 – 1865

Compton… Wasn't Bill's last name Compton? Was this his grave? It made sense; back then, no one knew vampires existed, so what else was his family supposed to think when he disappeared? I wondered if his coffin was actually empty.

Just then I heard a rustle from behind me. I spun around quickly, but I couldn't see anybody.

"Hello?" I called out nervously. I could feel someone's eyes on me. "Sookie?" No, it wasn't Sookie; she wouldn't sneak up on me like that. I thought hard on who could be following me and lurking through the woods.

"Eric?" I asked. It was a long shot, but I wouldn't put it past him to be the stalker type.

But I was wrong, it wasn't him. Out of the darkness stepped a young, handsome man with dark skin. He looked familiar; I thought I had seen him hanging around Tara at the bar.

"Oh," I sighed in relief. "It's just you. Tara's friend, right?" He didn't respond, only continued to walk closer to me. I started to get nervous again. "Are you visiting someone here?" I asked. Maybe he knew someone that was buried here. But again he didn't respond.

I squinted at him as he drew nearer. He was close enough now that I could see his eyes, and I was startled when I saw pits of blackness. The guy I remember briefly seeing at the bar definitely did not have these eyes. I froze in fear.

He suddenly grabbed onto my upper arm and I was thrown into a vision.

 _It was complete emptiness and everything was black as the man's eyes. I couldn't see anything._

 _"Lo Lo Bromios. Lo Lo Dendrties. Lo Lo Eleutherious. Lo Lo Bacchus. Lo Lo Bromios. Lo Lo Dendrties. Lo Lo Eleutherious. Lo Lo Bacchus. Lo Lo Bromios. Lo Lo Dendrties. Lo Lo Eleutherious. Lo Lo Bacchus." The chant repeated over and over_ _again into the dark, empty space._

I tried desperately to pull myself out of the vision, but I was only pulled deeper into the darkness. The chanting faded away, and I was left in silence.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Okay, I have a question for you guys. Does anyone know where I can watch True Blood episodes for free (LEGALLY, please!)? I've been watching them on my Xfinity TV Go app because I have a Comcast subscription, but I just noticed today they have taken a bunch of episodes down. I'm really upset about this because I need to watch the episodes so I can get the right plot, dialogue, references, etc. for this fanfiction. Right now, I'm using a free trial of the HBO NOW app, but there's no way that after 7 days I'm paying $14.99 a month for it, I mean considering that my Netflix and Hulu subscriptions combined cost about the same amount as that one app per month, no thank you. Anyone have any ideas? I'd really appreciate your suggestions!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Real quick, I'd like to thank ashwee for explaining to me about HBO Go. I already have Xfinity, so I was able to set everything up and the problem is solved now thanks to you! I also want to thank just everybody who reviews, follows, favorites, or even just reads this story, it honestly means so much to me that people are actually reading my stuff. I pumped out another chapter for you guys, so I hope you like it!**

* * *

Chapter 12

I felt completely disconnected from my body. Other than a dull pain in my head, I couldn't feel anything and couldn't move. I still was blinded, and struggled to find anything in the black emptiness.

"Lissa?" a voice called in the distance. I tried to answer back, but no words came out of my mouth. I searched through the darkness to find the source of the voice.

"Bill!" I heard, and this time it sounded closer. I felt something brush against me, but I was so numb I couldn't tell what it was.

"Heal her, she's dying!" the voice said. It sounded like Sookie, but I couldn't before since it sounded like she was talking underwater.

"I'll call Eric," a different voice said, and this one sounded almost like Bill's.

"What are you talking about?" Sookie asked. "Just heal her yourself, there's no time."

"Sookie, I can't," Bill said sternly. I heard the quiet sound of a number being dialed before he spoke again. "I'm here with your human. If you were intending to keep her, I suggest you get here soon, she's dying."

I couldn't even begin to think about what Bill's words meant because the dull pain in my head wasn't so dull anymore. Slowly, the numbness over my body was lifting and I felt the stabbing pain at the back of my head and moaned.

"Lissa," Sookie said, and I noticed that her voice was becoming clearer as I slowly gained my senses back. "Lissa, it's okay, you're okay."

The darkness obscuring my vision was receding, and I managed open my eyes for a moment. Sookie was kneeling before me, her eyes wide with concern.

She turned to Bill. "If you can't heal her, can you at least move her?"

I saw Bill nod before I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and shut them again, returning to the darkness. I felt myself being lifted and moaned again. My head was dangling, causing the pain to increase sharply.

"Watch her head," said Sookie, and I immediately felt support on my neck. "I'll be right behind you."

I felt a whoosh like I had just zipped from one place to the next in seconds, and I found myself to be correct when I briefly opened my eyes and realized I was in Sookie's house. I was placed on the couch with my head propped up, towels underneath me to staunch the bleeding. Sookie came in the house a moment later.

"Sookie," I managed to whisper. She ran to my side and held my hand.

"Don't worry, Lissa, you'll be okay," she told me. I groaned in response.

There as a knock on the door and Sookie went immediately to answer it.

"Eric, won't you please come in," she said before she had even finished opening the door.

My heart jumped when I saw him walk in and take in my predicament. I felt embarrassed that he was seeing me like this and lowered my eyes in shame. _Wait_ , I thought, _why am I feeling self-conscious in front of him when I'm on my fucking deathbed? What is wrong with me?_

"It's only been a few hours and already you're dying to see me again," he teased as he approached me. He turned to Sookie and Bill and asked emotionlessly, "What happened?"

"I don't know, she must have fallen and hit her head on a gravestone," Sookie said to him.

I stared curiously up at Eric as he seemed to consider this. Then, without warning, his fangs popped out and I flinched involuntarily. He raised his wrist to his mouth and bit into his skin as I watched in horror. What the fuck was going on?

"Alessandra," he said and my insides twisted. I looked up past his bloody wrist and into his beautiful blue eyes. "Drink," he commanded.

Drink? Drink what? I suddenly understood what he meant as he held his wrist to my mouth. He wanted me to drink his blood. _Oh hell no_.

He grabbed my chin and forced it towards his wound, but I used every ounce of energy I had to clamp my mouth shut. I struggled in his strong grip to turn my head away.

"It's okay, Lissa, just drink it," Sookie urged, but I didn't listen and it was too late. His wound had already healed shut, though I didn't dare open my mouth.

"Hold her there," said Eric, and his hand was replaced by Bill's. I panted as I watched Eric bite his wrist a second time. This time, he didn't wait a second for me to willingly open. He forced his wrist onto my mouth and used his other hand to pinch my nose shut. I fought with everything I had, but I lost to my reflexes and gasped for breath. The blood dribbled down my throat and I choked. It tasted differently than I expected. It was actually really sweet, and didn't have a metallic taste at all like I expected it to. I found myself involuntarily sucking on his wrist for more.

The pain in my head faded away to nothing as I continued to lap at his blood. Eventually, Eric pulled away and the wound healed almost immediately. I wiped my chin and a wave of humiliation washed over me as I realized I had willingly drank vampire blood and even enjoyed it. I rolled over to face the back of the couch to avoid the embarrassment.

"Thanks," I grumbled halfheartedly.

"Anytime, lover," Eric purred, causing me to grimace. "But don't make a habit of hurting yourself."

"Lissa, what happened back there?" Sookie pressed.

"I-I don't remember," I admitted. I honestly couldn't recall what happened before she had found me. "I remember leaving Bill's, and then… there was a chant… and darkness… and-and black, empty eyes… I don't- I can't remember." I was getting a headache just thinking about it, and I was already so tired. I let my eyelids droop.

"If you still want her to accompany us on the trip, I suggest you allow her a day to recover," Bill said to Eric.

"No," Eric stated. "We don't have that kind of time. She's fine."

"Eric, please," begged Sookie. "Look at her." I didn't even want to imagine what a mess I looked like at the moment.

There was silence and I guessed Eric was taking in my disheveled form and considering Sookie's point. "My decision still stands, you leave tomorrow. You can take a later flight, if you wish, but I still expect you all there by tomorrow evening."

"Fine," Sookie grunted.

I felt Eric's cool hand caress my cheek and kept still, trying to hide my blush. "Sleep tight, lover," he cooed in my ear. I heard him get up and the door creaked shut behind him.

"I still have to make the arrangements and I have to go to ground soon," Bill said to Sookie. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay. See you tomorrow," she said and I heard them kiss goodnight.

After the door shut I heard her say to me, "Lissa?" I opened my eyes slightly to look at her. "I'll be right upstairs if you need anything, okay? Just yell." I closed my eyes and nodded my head. Sleep pulled me under.

* * *

 _I could smell his infatuating scent before I even opened my eyes to look at him. He was crouched before me, staring intently into my eyes. His blonde hair glimmered in the moonlight coming from the window._

 _"What are you doing here?" I giggled as I sat up on the couch._

 _"I had to come back and make sure you were alright," Eric smiled, revealing his white, shining teeth. "Knowing you, you can get yourself into trouble without lifting a finger." He traced his index finger down my thigh and I bit my lip._

 _"Knowing you," I teased, "you don't do anything without an incentive. You came here for something. What did you think you'd get out of seeing me?"_

 _"Whatever you're willing to give me," he said as he leaned in to kiss my neck. He brought his lips to my ears and whispered, "And then some."_

 _At that, I melted into him, and he left kisses on my neck and down my collarbone. Finally, he reached my lips and I crashed mine into his hungrily. My hands went into his hair and I tugged on it as he consumed me. He bit my lip gently and grabbed my ass. In a second, he had lifted me in the air and pressed me against the wall on the other side of the room. I wrapped my legs around his waist and encouraged him by thrusting into him. His fangs came down and my shirt was across the room in a heartbeat. He bent down to lick the edges of my bra and I moaned and clawed at his back, desperately trying to remove his shirt as well. Eric caught on and set my down so he could yank his dark V-neck off, much to my satisfaction._

 _I knelt down from where I was standing and began to undo his belt buckle. I glanced up at him and bit my lip as I smiled. He looked down at me approvingly and I slid his belt off. I wanted him badly. Slowly I unzipped his jeans…_

My eyes snapped open and I shot up from Sookie's couch, panting. I looked around to make sure I was alone, that he wasn't there with me. Sunshine gleamed through the window, and I realized it was impossible for him to be here. I looked down at myself. My shirt was still on. It was just a dream.

I sighed in relief and chuckled to myself. It was just a dream. Thank god. I checked the clock, and when I realized it was still pretty early, I decided to let myself sleep a few more hours. I closed my eyes in hope for a more peaceful rest.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I woke up to sound of birds chirping outside. I yawned as I sat up to stretch. My arm brushed up against my hair and I felt something warm and sticky. I made my way upstairs to the bathroom quietly, as to not wake Sookie, to look in the mirror.

My hair was matted with blood from last night, but other than that I looked… almost radiant. My skin was glowing and my under eye circles had vanished. Gingerly, I raised my hand to the back of my head where my pain had been last night, expecting to feel a huge gash. But nothing was there, and besides the blood, any evidence of my accident was gone.

I hopped in the shower and watched the blood swirl down the drain. When I finished washing and the water ran clear, I dried off and changed into new clothes. I realized I had been wearing the same outfit since we went out with Jessica, and that was two days ago. I put on a baseball tee and black stretchy shorts that I knew would be comfy for traveling and braided my dark hair back.

I left the bathroom and jumped when Sookie turned a corner.

"Oh god," I gasped. "Oh, Sookie, you scared me."

"Sorry hun," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I'm all healed… did Eric's blood do this?"

She looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, vampire blood has healing powers. Listen," she said, quickly changing the subject, "Tara stopped by. She needs a place to stay. She's gonna stay here while we're away."

I nodded in understanding. "What time do we leave today?"

"Our flight's at 4:45, but we have to leave in two hours," she explained.

"I better start packing then," I said.

A car picked us up at the house and took us to the airport. Bill and Jessica, who was coming with us now, were in airtight travel coffins sleeping. It was still daytime and they wouldn't wake up until we landed in Dallas. Once we were on board, I decided it was a good time to ask Sookie the questions nagging at me.

"Hey, Sook?" I asked and she raised her eyes off the magazine she was reading to look at me. "I've been wondering… Am I like gonna become a vampire now that I've got Eric's blood in me?"

She burst out laughing. "No, it doesn't work like that."

"Well, all I know is I was an inch from death last night and today I'm good as new. I know how people get high off V, but why have I never heard of these healing powers? Why aren't hospitals using this stuff, do you know how many people it would save?"

"Do you know how many vampires would die in return?" she retorted. "Not a lot of people know about it cause they would go hunting vampires, and there would be a lot of death, both human and vampire, if that ever happened."

"Yeah, I guess," I said. "But what else don't I know about it?"

Sookie got real awkward all of a sudden. She fiddled her thumbs nervously. "Um, it heightens your senses and you'll be a lot stronger for a couple days."

"Oh," I said thoughtfully. I glanced at her for a second, and for some reason, I had the feeling she was keeping something from me. I let it slide, though, because clearly she didn't want to talk anymore, as she had turned away and buried her nose back into her magazine, chugging down one of those travel sized champagnes they give out on planes.

The flight landed a while later, and Sookie and I got up to leave.

"Anubis Airlines welcomes you to Dallas, the most vampire-friendly destination in the great state of Texas," a woman's voice announced over the loud speaker. As we exited, we noticed the car that was sent for us and the chauffeur holding a sign that read, "Compton Party".

"Yoo-hoo!" Sookie called to the man, who smiled curtly and waved. She hopped down the steps giddily, and I realized she was a little tipsy. "That's us!" As we approached him, she held out her booze she had taken along with her and gave him a huge grin. "I've always loved these. They're like booze for dolls."

"They gave her ten," I laughed as I explained my friend's behavior.

"You're two hours late, you were supposed to be here before sundown," the man said nervously. His bald head glistened with sweat. He looked over my shoulder and I followed his gaze to see Bill and Jessica, still inside their coffins, being unloaded. It was dark now; it was only a matter of time before they woke up.

"We decided to catch a later flight," Sookie explained, drawing our attention back to the conversation at hand. "Didn't someone tell you?"

"Okay, well, why don't you go wait in the limo," he offered. "I got the A.C. cranked up."

"No, thanks. We're fine," I said. I wanted to wait for Bill so I didn't have to take care of a buzzed Sookie all by myself.

"Oh, go on. Uh, there's Cokes in there," the chauffeur insisted, his eyes averting to the coffins once again. I started to get a bad feeling about this, and my intuition was telling me something was wrong. I thought Sookie might have caught on, too, because she was focusing in on him like she was searching through his thoughts.

Before either of us had time to react, the man grabbed me roughly.

 _The man threw an unconscious Sookie through a chain-link gate and she fell harshly to the floor. Another man, this one_ _tall and bulky, pushed me in after her as I fought against him. I clutched onto his blue "L.O.D.I." sweater in an effort to avoid falling to the floor, but he pried my fingers off of him and shoved me to the ground. I scrambled to get to my feet, but the gate was shut and locked before I could reach it._

 _"Is that all?" the chauffeur asked._

 _"Yes, you've done a great job getting them here," the tall man said. "Now, like we discussed, there will be no talk of this, right?" The chauffeur nodded and the man in the blue sweater patted him on the back. "Great. Much appreciated. Now, listen, we don't want this little incident to affect your views of our church. We are really a kind hearted, close knit family here that's sole objective is to walk in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You should consider joining us, you'd fit in well here."_

"Get your hands off me!" I yelled as the chauffeur yanked me towards the car. I stomped hard on his foot and kneed him in the groin, something I had learned in a self-defense class I took back in Alaska. He doubled over in pain and released me, but made a grab for Sookie, who screeched.

Before I could blink, Bill was beside Sookie in a flash, his hands around our attacker's throat.

"Make a noise and it will be your last," he said as his fangs descended.

There was a loud clatter behind us, and I turned to see Jessica's travel coffin thrashing around on the floor.

"Hey!" she yelled in a panicked voice. "How the hell does this thing open? Somebody help get me out of here. Help!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the short, boring chapter. This is really just a filler chapter I had to write to fill in the gaps between the more interesting plot lines. I promise better chapters to come.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Tell me your name," Bill said to the chauffeur, who was seated across from him in the car. After Jessica had managed to get out of her coffin, Bill ushered us all into the car out of public view and put the man under a spell- that glamouring thing that doesn't work on me.

"Leon," he answered in a monotone voice.

"Alright Leon," said Bill as he leaned in. "No one is going to hurt you." He turned to look at Jessica, who was watching with fascination. "Would you like to try?"

"Could I?" she said excitedly.

Bill smiled. "Here. Lean in close so you can catch his gaze." Jessica did just that, and Leon shifted his gaze to look at her. "And just let everything go," Bill continued. "Let yourself be dead."

I was strangely fascinated by watching them. This was the same technique Bill used when he "convinced" Jessica's parents that they never saw us. And this was what he tried to do to get me to go home when Sookie got scratched. This was what I felt when there was a pulling at my mind. But I could resist it. I thought about what it would be like if I could be glamoured. I would've never gone in with Bill to Fangtasia. Never would've met Eric. Never would've been here in Dallas. I couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. But then I thought of how I would be at the complete mercy of any vampire I came across, and decided I enjoyed my freedom and independence.

"You feel it?" Bill asked Jessica, who nodded. "You are empty. A vacuum. Now you can pull his mind into yours."

She looked deeply into Leon's eyes and whispered, "Everything's gonna be okay. There's nothing to fear."

Bill moved back to sit beside Sookie and I, satisfied with Jessica's progress. He placed his hand on Sookie's lap, and she looked lovingly up at him.

"You were very sweet with her," she told him, but he seemed preoccupied with something else.

"Sookie, he was sent to abduct you two," he said, gesturing towards me. "Which means somebody knew you were coming."

"Who do you think's behind it?" I asked. "Vampires?"

"Too sloppy," said Bill. He looked to Sookie. "Maybe that church?"

 _Church_. Clearly Bill had brought this up earlier with Sookie, but nobody ever told me anything about a church. Yet why did it ring a bell?

"Bill, they may be crazy, but they're still a church," Sookie said. "They're not gonna kidnap anybody."

"Sookie," he shook his head. "Churches have done much, much worse throughout history."

 _Church_. Something clicked in my mind.

" _Now, listen, we don't want this little incident to affect your views of our church. We are really a kind hearted, close knit family here that's sole objective is to walk in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."_

My vision.

"Wait!" I jumped as I said this much louder than I needed to. Everyone turned to look at me, including Jessica. She lost her focus and Leon snapped out of her influence. He gasped in fright.

"No, no! Don't hurt me!" he pleaded.

"Jessica, get him back under control," Bill told her.

"I'm trying!" she shot back at him. She quickly changed her tone back to the soft, sweet humming she was talking in before and said to Leon, "It's gonna be alright. It's just fine. Just trust me." After some convincing, he returned back to his hypnotic state.

"Wait, what?" Sookie asked me.

"When he grabbed me, I had a vision. I didn't think it was anything important, it just looked like what would happen if Bill hadn't stepped in…" I paused and shuddered at the thought of what could have easily happened. "But, there was something about a church. The church you were talking about, does it have the acronym 'L.O.D.I.'?"

Bill and Sookie exchanged a look. "No," he finally said. "I was referring to the Fellowship of the Sun. They are known for their hatred and protests of vampire kind."

"Oh," I murmured. I thought back to my vision, but I couldn't come up with anything that connected the Fellowship to Leon. The only straw I had to grasp at was "L.O.D.I", and that wasn't enough to give us any solid leads.

"We'll interrogate Leon when we get to the safety of the hotel," Bill announced. "We might find something in his thoughts. Jessica, have him drive us there."

* * *

When we arrived at the Hotel Carmilla, I was quick to realize this wasn't just any hotel. I had heard of vampire hotels before, but always assumed them to be very rare, only in lavish, eccentric places like Las Vegas or Japan. But that lady over the plane's loudspeaker wasn't exaggerating; apparently Dallas was very vampire friendly.

Jessica sat in the lobby's chairs with the still dazed Leon while Bill, Sookie, and I went to the front desk to get checked in.

"Welcome to the Hotel Carmilla! The only resort style hotel chain with full vampire accommodations!" the blonde receptionist exclaimed. She appeared to be human, with her sun kissed skin and warm handshake. "How may I help you?"

"Yes, we have reservations," Bill told her. "I believe they would be under Northman."

"Okay," the lady said, typing away on her computer. "I have you down for a room with no bed?" Sookie looked to Bill in confusion.

"Eric," he explained.

"No, we need a bed," she kindly asked of the receptionist, shaking her head at Eric's slyness.

"Of course. I do have a light-lockable room with a king-sized bed. It's a suite. Double-soundproofed."

"Oh," Bill spoke up, "with an adjoining room for my- what should I call her?" He wasn't sure what to refer to Jessica as and turned to Sookie and me for help.

"Isn't there a vampire word?" I asked.

"Progeny," he said.

"Call her your ward," Sookie joked. "You have a ward, like Bruce Wayne."

Bill smiled and went along with it. "And an adjoining room for my ward and her friend," he said, referring to me. I guess I had to share a room with a moody vampire who hasn't learned to control her impulses yet.

"Actually, I already have her down for her own double-soundproofed, light-lockable suite with a king-sized bed," the lady said, looking at me.

"I get my own room?" I asked, overjoyed. I didn't want to be rude about sharing a room with Jessica, but it sure would be nice to not have to sleep with one eye open.

She nodded as she handed Bill some papers. "Can I just have you sign here, please?"

"These accommodations are being covered by a third party, right?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," she assured him, "it's all been taken care of by a Mr. Northman."

"Becky Eubanks is a stuck-up whore who let Chase finger her in the church!" Leon suddenly screamed from behind us and we all turned to see Jessica laughing hysterically.

"Jessica!" Bill scolded. He turned back to the receptionist. "She's new."

We got our room keys and headed upstairs. I decided to stay with Bill and Sookie in their room while they interrogated Leon to see if I could be of any help. When we got inside their suite, Jessica ran straight to her room, slamming the door and yelling for nobody to bother her. Bill sat Leon down and I joined Sookie on the opposite couch.

"Leon, look at me," said Bill, exerting his influence over him. "Look at me, Leon." The man looked up at him with fear in his eyes. "Everything is going to be okay."

"No, it's not," Leon whimpered. "My worst nightmares."

"Jessica, what on earth did you do to this man?" Bill shouted at his progeny's closed door.

"I'm on the phone!" she yelled back, annoyed. Bill scoffed.

"Maybe if you put your hand on his shoulder," said Sookie quietly. "Sometimes touching helps me to hear their thoughts better."

Bill followed her suggestion. "Who sent you?"

"Fellowship of the Sun," Leon confessed. So I was wrong about whatever the "L.O.D.I." was being behind this. I knew my visions could sometimes be inaccurate, but I felt so surely about that one.

Sookie asked, "Are you a member?"

"No, they hired me."

"Who specifically?" Bill pressed.

"I'm not sure. It was over the phone. Money was put in a locker for me at a Greyhouse station."

"And they hired you to do what exactly?"

"Abduct the humans with the Compton party and bring them to the church."

I shuddered. "Do you know my name?"

"No, ma'am, I didn't even know y'all were going to be women. All I know is a vampire's using humans to find a vampire Godric." Godric, he's the one Eric sent us to look for.

"Do you know where he is?" I wondered.

"No, ma'am, I do not."

We all sat in silence for a minute, digesting this new information. Eventually, Bill turned to Leon. "You did very well. I'm sure your employers will be pleased."

"Think so?" the chauffeur asked nervously.

"Of course. What could you? We never arrived. It's not your fault," Bill persuaded him.

"Yeah," Leon smiled. "Flight never arrived."

"No. We just weren't on it," the vampire corrected. It was definitely easier to say a couple people were missing rather than an entire plane.

"I got so nervous for nothing," chuckled Leon, and we all joined in convincingly.

"Go on now," Bill told him. "You never saw us."

"Never!" he laughed as he walked out the door. The second the door shut behind him, everyone took on a more serious tone.

"I have a phone call to make," Bill stated.

I didn't feel like being alone after learning a church was after me, so I stayed and helped Sookie unpack her and Bill's stuff. I overheard bits and pieces of Bill's heated phone conversation.

"We were ambushed at the airport… You know exactly by whom, Eric. The Fellowship of the Sun. Why didn't you tell me they were involved?... You could have shared your suspicions with me." He angrily listened to whatever Eric was saying on the other side and hung up abruptly.

So Bill called Eric to yell at him. Good. That asshole vampire deserved a good yelling for sending us into unknown territory without a fair warning about the wacko church congregation waiting to snatch us up.

"Why does he have to be such a dick?" I asked to no one in particular.

"I ask myself that question every day," Bill replied.

"He's nothing but a selfish, a-hole Viking with an empty cavern where his heart should be," Sookie ranted. "He thinks he has all this power just because he's sheriff-"

"He does have all the power," Bill told her.

"That doesn't give him the right to be reckless and regardless of everyone else's wellbeing!" She turned to me. "Stay away from him. He may have saved your life and mine but we don't owe him anything."

"Trust me, I want nothing to do with him," I tried to convince her, and myself, of this.

Bill opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but shut it and shook his head.

"Just be careful," Sookie warned me.

I nodded and decided to head out because Bill was eyeing up Sookie hungrily and when she saw this, she smiled back at his. They obviously needed some alone time and I needed to unpack anyways.

My suite was just down the hall from theirs, and when I unlocked the door and went in, I found it to be just as extravagant and lavishing as theirs was. I almost felt bad staying in this room that probably cost a fortune, but then I remembered who was paying and popped open an expensive looking bottle of champagne from the fridge.

I plugged in my iPod to the speaker the room provided and jammed out to some music while I put my stuff away. I was really going to town with the booze, and knew I was a little tipsy when I started jumping on the humongous bed, dancing and singing to Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone". I was singing so loudly that I didn't even hear him come in.

He shut off the music, but I didn't notice as I continued screaming the lyrics and jumping around in circles. When I spun in his direction, we locked eyes and I gasped, startled. I froze mid jump and fell on my butt, bouncing softly on the comfy mattress.

"That was a lovely performance, you'd make a great dancer at Fangtasia," Eric smirked.

My cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "What are you doing in my room?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"What are you doing in my room? And don't you know how to knock?"

"I doubt you would've heard it if I had," Eric said as he walked around the bed and set his room key down on the nightstand.

"Why do you have my room key?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer. "And _what are you doing in my room_?"

" _Our_ room. You didn't really think I'd allow you to stay in this great, big room all by yourself, now did you?"

"What?" My heart dropped and anger coursed through my veins. "No! You're not staying here. Get out."

"I don't think so, I did pay for this room, after all."

"Fine, I'll go stay with Jessica."

"No."

"No? You're not the boss of me, Eric."

"Actually, I am." He stroked my cheek, and I meant to pull away, but it was like his hand was a live wire, leaving tiny sparks down my skin. "You are mine."

"I'm not yours," I told him, finally gaining the strength to pull away. "You don't own me."

"I beg to differ, Alessandra."

I scoffed, this guy was unbelievable.

"I'm going out," said Eric. "Stay in the room."

"We'll see," I replied.

"I mean it. Stay in the room," he ordered. I rolled my eyes.

The second he closed the door, I ran up to it and pressed my ear against it, listening to make sure he was gone. I slowly cracked open the door and stuck my head out, scoping out the hallway to make sure it was clear. If Eric thought I was going to sit tight like a good little girl just like he wanted, he was fooling himself.

I snuck down the hall and knocked on Sookie's door. I suddenly worried that I would be interrupting her and Bill's private time. I was just about to walk away when she opened the door, dressed in a Hotel Carmilla robe.

"Hey, Lissa," she smiled. "Lonely in your own room already?"

I laughed. "Yeah something like that." I peered over her shoulder to look for signs of Bill. "Um am I interrupting anything?"

"No, silly. Come on in. Bill went out with Eric." So that's where Eric ran off to. I went inside and Sookie giggled. "Look on the TV. They have vampire porn, isn't that gross?" I looked up at the screen, and sure enough, there were adult films with titles like "His First Fangbang" and "Co-ed Chowdown: Hot Vamp on Vamp Action!" This was just sickening.

"Listen, Sook, can I talk to you about something?" I asked.

"Of course, sweetie, what is it?"

"Well, it turns out Eric gave me a room to myself so we could share it."

Her eyes widened. "That nasty vampire. I should have seen this coming. You know you are always welcome to stay in Jessica's room."

"I just might take you up on that. He's so unbelievable, you know he thinks he owns me?" I tried to do my best Eric impression as I said, "Alessandra, you are mine."

Sookie pressed her lips together and cast her eyes downward. "Sookie?" I pressed. "What are you not telling me?"

She sighed. "It's a vampire thing, the whole 'you are mine'. When they say that, they're claiming you as their own, so no other vampires can touch you."

"So Eric just _claimed_ me back there?" I shouted angrily.

"Um," Sookie said nervously, "technically he already has claimed you as his for a few days now."

"What the fuck?"

"Hey, easy on the f-bomb. And yeah, Bill kinda told me Eric claimed you the night he met you."

"What?"

"That's why Bill couldn't heal you himself that night, why he had to call Eric."

"Oh my god," I murmured. I really just wanted to punch Eric in the throat. How dare he claim me? I was not his nor would I ever be. I didn't care about the butterflies in my stomach he gave me; he was way out of line.

"I wanted to tell you," Sookie said apologetically. "But I didn't want you to freak out. You don't have to accept it, and it doesn't give him any 'ownership' over you."

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Eric."

Before either of us could get another word in, there was a knocking on the door. My heart missed a beat as I realized it was probably Eric coming to drag me back to the room. Sookie quickly turned off the TV and yelled, "Who is it?"

Jessica hurried into the room and said, "I ordered something. Is that okay?" I sighed in relief.

"Oh," Sookie mumbled as she opened the door. A young man with fair skin and dark hair stood outside dressed in a hotel uniform.

"Male. Straight. B-negative," he said as another man stepped forward from behind him.

"Hi, I'm Travis," the man said to Sookie. He had long hair and was wearing his hotel robe so that nearly his entire chest was exposed.

"Uh, that's for me," Jessica giggled excitedly as she grabbed Travis's hand and lead him to her room. It dawned on me that she ordered someone to drink from, and this man was here to fulfill that purpose. Yuck.

"Uh," Sookie said unsurely as she watched Jessica shut the door behind them.

"He's twenty-one," the bellboy said out of nowhere. Sookie and I both looked at him in confusion. He smiled awkwardly.

"But it's not a coincidence, Barry," whispered Sookie with a huge grin. What was going on? What wasn't a coincidence? Was I missing something?

The smile disappeared from Barry's face. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, and then bolted out the door and down the hall. What the fuck?

Sookie ran after him. "Barry, wait!"

"Sookie!" I yelled and started after her down the hall. I needed to find out what was going on.

I went to turn a corner, but I slammed into something hard. I lost my balance and nearly fell back, but he caught me by the wrists and pulled me up. Oh boy.

Eric looked at me coldly, a flash of anger in his eyes. I gulped. I was really in for it this time.

"What are you doing?" he growled.

"I-I um…" I stuttered. I tried to pull myself free, but his hands held my wrists like a vice. "Let go of me."

"I told you to stay in the room."

"I was just visiting Sookie," I pleaded.

"I told you to stay in the room," he repeated.

"I don't take orders from you," I seethed. Wrong move. Very, very wrong move.

He released my right hand, but started dragging me roughly down the hallway by my left. I struggled to keep up with his long strides as he pulled me along.

"Ow, Eric. Stop, you're hurting me." My pleas fell on empty ears. He yanked me back to the room, and after unlocking and opening the door, he shoved me inside. I stumbled and had to regain my balance. I heard him shut and lock the door behind me. I swallowed and mustered up the courage to turn around and face him.

"When I tell you to do something, I expect you to listen," he scolded me.

"I told you, you're not the boss of me."

"I expect you to listen for your own safety."

I laughed. "Yeah, like you're concerned about my safety. You know someone was waiting to abduct me at the airport?"

"You were in no real danger. Humans don't pose the same threat to you as vampires do, especially when you smell so delicious. The hallway is fair game to the other vampires here. You could have been killed. Or worse."

As much as it pained me to admit, he was right. I didn't even think about how I was in a hotel full of bloodthirsty vampires just waiting for a midnight snack.

"Sookie's out there," I said, half worried and half complaining.

"Bill can take care of his own things," Eric stated. I rolled my eyes at how he referred to Sookie as 'Bill's thing'. I checked my watch. There was an hour until dawn. I was too exhausted to keep up the arguing anymore.

"Look, you're right, okay? You make a valid point, I'll be more careful from now on-" He gave me a look and I sighed. "And I'll stay in the room, alright? Jeez." When he looked satisfied, I continued, "I'm tired. I'm going to bed. I'll stay in this room with you, but you have to take the couch."

"Oh, I won't be sleeping on the couch," he told me.

"Fine. I'll take the couch."

"Oh, I don't think so."

"Eric, you can't make me sleep in the same bed you. I'm sleeping on the couch and that's-" I gasped when he was in front of me in a flash, cutting off my sentence. "Eric," I warned.

I heard his fangs click and knew what that meant. I pushed away from him, which, to my surprise, worked. I knew he must have let me. If he didn't, I'd still be in his grasp.

"Eric, no," I said firmly, backing away slowly. I held my finger up to him. "Don't even think about it."

There was a pulse in the air and he was behind me, pulling me to him by the waist. I could feel the butterflies again and was disgusted with myself for actually getting turned on by this.

"Don't act like you don't want it," he whispered in my ear. "I can feel everything you feel. I gave you my blood, it's inside you, and now it's time you return the favor." I was too hung up on what he said about being able to feel what I feel that I hardly even noticed his nose at my neck, breathing in my scent.

"This is mine," he murmured, nuzzling himself into my neck. His hand roamed down my waist, over my hip, and treacherously slowly down my thigh. "This is mine," he said as he stroked my thigh. "And this-" he suddenly cupped my sex and squeezed it forcefully, causing me to gasp and arch up into him, "-is mine." I found myself panting softly, heat pooling at my core where his hand remained. I struggled to hold onto the little self-control I had left.

"Eric," I moaned, and I wasn't sure if it was another warning or a plea for more.

"Alessandra," he purred. I could feel the tips of his fangs against my neck and tensed in anticipation. "You are mine."

His fangs pierced my flesh and I gasped in pain. I went to scream, but no sound came out. I struggled against him, trying to get away, but it was no use. The sharp, stabbing pain only intensified when I moved. I gave up, and found myself relaxing into him. The more I relaxed, the better I felt. The pain turned into pleasure as he lapped at my blood.

With each pull of my blood, I felt myself getting weaker. "That's enough," I tried to tell him, but I was pretty sure it came out garbled and unintelligible. I was slumping into Eric, and he had to hold me up, yet he still continued drinking. My eyelids grew heavy, and I didn't have the strength to keep them open. I let the darkness consume me.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I've had this chapter sitting on my computer for almost two weeks now, so I really don't have an excuse for not uploading. I've just been really struggling with this chapter for some reason. I've had it finished, but I just really did not want to upload it. I don't know, the more I read it the more I didn't like it? When I woke up today, I saw that I had over 50 followers (I know it's not a lot compared to other stories, but it's more than I ever hoped for; I was expecting like 2 people to ever read my work) and I felt like I owed it to you guys to post something. So I hope you guys liked it more than I did. I promise to post more often from now on.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 _I woke up to the feel of a cool hand making tiny circles across my back. I moaned softly and smiled, fluttering my eyes open. I turned in the giant hotel bed to face Eric, who flashed a grin at me._

 _"Good morning," I mumbled._

 _"I think it'd be more fitting to say, 'goodnight,'" he chuckled. I propped myself up on my elbows and peered over his shoulder at the clock on the nightstand. It was six o'clock in the evening._

 _"I guess I'm already running on vampire time," I mused._

 _"Of course you are, you're already practically vampire." He started to kiss my neck as he mumbled on, "You can't be glamoured, your mind is unreadable, and then your special abilities…" He trailed off as got distracted with kissing me. His lips on mine felt electric, and I couldn't help but move closer into him. I suddenly realized we were both naked as I pressed my body to his cold skin._

 _Eric paused for a moment and ran his hand down my bare back, causing me to shiver in anticipation._

 _"But I'm not a vampire," I told him with a seductive smirk._

 _"Mmm," he grumbled, the deep animalistic noise resonating from his chest. "Perhaps one day you will be." Without warning, his fangs were in my flesh before I knew it. There was no pain this time, though, only pleasure. I moaned and grinded myself against Eric's body, wanting more._

 _He pulled away too soon, and I longed for him to return to my neck. But he raised his head up to me, blood dripping from his skin and said, "You're different. What are you?"_

 _I smiled and batted my eyes flirtatiously at him. I cupped my hand around his blood stained cheek and whispered, "Yours."_

I woke up, startled. Another dream about Eric? What was wrong with me? I gagged and rubbed my eyes furiously, trying to rid myself of the dream.

It took me a moment to remember where I was. When I did, I slowly turned my head to peek over at the other side of the bed.

"Good morning," Eric grinned at me. "Or judging by the hour, I guess I should say goodnight?"

I screamed in horror as I scrambled out of bed. I fell off the mattress onto the carpeted floor, and before I could finish picking myself up, he was standing in front of me, wearing only his boxers. My eyes widened in fear and I eyed the door. I glanced back and forth from him to the door, trying to calculate my chance of escape. I was sure he saw this and caught onto my intentions, but I made a run for it anyway, sprinting across the room.

I managed to open the door a crack before a strong hand reached over me and shut it roughly. I leaned up against the wood and gasped for breath as I felt his body pressed against me. I gathered myself and turned to face him. He had me trapped between his arms.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Eric mused. He leaned in closer, for a kiss or maybe a bite, who knew? I wasn't taking my chances with either possibility. I ducked under his arm and fled towards the bathroom. Of course, he was in front of me in a flash. I backed up slowly towards the bedside table as he cornered me.

"Come on now, don't be like this," he said to me.

I backed up into the nightstand and was trapped as he closed in on me. I panicked and frantically grabbed a lamp and smashed it over his head without thinking. The lamp shattered, but Eric didn't even so much as blink.

"Well, that wasn't very kind," he said nonchalantly.

"You bit me," I snarled.

"I was thirsty," he shrugged.

"You put me to bed with you," I spat every word out with gritted teeth.

"I was tired."

I squinted my eyes at him. What game was this guy trying to play? Suddenly my mind ran to much more urgent thoughts.

"Umm…" I mumbled nervously. "Did we…?"

"Fuck?" He chuckled. "No, Alessandra we did not fuck." I sighed in relief before he took a step closer and caressed my cheek. "When we fuck, and lover, we _will_ fuck, it won't be while you're unconscious. I don't need the vulnerability of the unwilling. You'll be fully aware and throwing yourself at me, _begging_ for it. And you certainly won't forget the experience so soon."

I was at a loss for words. How could anyone be so arrogant and so cunning? I was so angry at Eric for what he did to me, yet his touch left me dazed. He stroked my cheek with his thumb for a few moments before he pulled away.

"Go shower and get dressed," he ordered. "We have a busy day ahead of us." Without another word, he walked out the door.

I sat on the bed and gave myself a moment to process. Then I figured a shower probably wasn't the worst idea and grabbed my stuff to take to the bathroom. I locked the bathroom door behind me in case a certain vampire came back and tried anything funny. I knew that if he really wanted to get in, he could easily just break the door down with his superhuman strength, but I held onto the hope that the cost for repairs he'd have to pay wouldn't be worth sneaking in with me. Especially now that he had to pay for that expensive looking lamp I smashed over his obnoxious blond head. I smiled to myself at this realization.

Showering was glorious. The shower had always been my happy place, and this one was no exception. The warm water streamed down my back as I took a moment to just stand there and appreciate the feel of the drops on my skin. I felt powerful and vulnerable at the same time. The water stripped away ever worry, every fear, and cleansed me of the memories of unwanted dreams. There was something about the water that made me feel more… more me.

I reluctantly got out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, and wrung out my long, wet hair. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and did a double take. I stepped closer as to see my reflection better, and sure enough two tiny marks adorned my skin from where Eric had bitten into and drank from me. I scoffed. I still couldn't believe he actually bit me. And then drank so much of my blood that I passed out so he could take me to bed with him without a fight. I raised my hand to my neck carefully and lightly brushed the bite. It didn't really hurt, but my main concern was how the hell I was going to cover this thing up.

I threw on a dark green blouse and some denim shorts. I dug around in my suitcase for something to cover up the marks. I made due with a black scarf; it was probably too hot out for a scarf, but I had little to work with.

I was fixing my hair when Eric came back, looking like he was on a mission. He walked over, grabbed me by the waist, and led me back out the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where are we going?" I demanded.

"Relax," he said, bored. "We're meeting up with Bill and Sookie to speak with some friends of Godric."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

We met Bill and Sookie in the lobby and the boys went off to get a rental car, no longer taking a risk with a driver. Sookie, who wore a gorgeous red sundress that made me feel underdressed, sat across from me as we waited for Bill and Eric to come back. We sat in silence, and I felt extremely awkward as Sookie eyed me critically.

"What's wrong?" I asked, breaking the silence.

She continued to stare at me before she said, "Come to the bathroom with me?"

I nodded and followed her through the lobby to the nearest ladies' room. She held the door for me and I walked in and looked in the mirror. I gussied up as she went through the bathroom looking under every stall to make sure we were alone. I expected Sookie to go into one of stalls, but instead she came right up behind me and suddenly ripped my scarf from my neck.

"Hey!" I squealed and made a grab for my scarf in her hand.

"I knew it, I tried the same thing when I first got bitten," she said. I quickly covered up the bite marks with my hand, embarrassed, as she continued, "How could you let him bite you? Lissa, he's bad news, trust me."

"Don't you think I know that? I didn't exactly give him the go-ahead to chow down on me like a turkey on Thanksgiving!" Her face took on a look of pity as I said this, and she grabbed my shoulder sympathetically. "Look can we talk about this later?" I sighed. "We both promised Eric we'd help him find Godric and right now that means meeting with these vampires. Which we're going to be late for if we don't get our asses out the door now."

Sookie nodded in understanding and handed me my scarf back. I wrapped it back around my neck to hide Eric's doing and left the restroom with my friend.

* * *

"You should've told me Eric hired fucking humans, Isabel," the dark-haired cowboy vampire muttered. We had hardly stepped a foot into Godric's exquisite home before one of his friends started insulting Sookie and me.

"Now wait just a minute," Sookie scoffed.

"Respect them!" Bill demanded, having our backs.

"Thank you," I said to him.

"I couldn't tell you, Stan," the classy looking woman in a white dress seethed to the cowboy, "you've been off on your own for days."

"Are you certain Godric was abducted by the Fellowship of the Sun?" Eric asked impatiently as he paced the floor.

"Yes," Stan confirmed.

"No," Isabel said at the same time.

"They're the only ones with the organization and manpower," insisted Stan.

"But they're amateurs," she retorted. "It doesn't make any sense. This is Godric we're talking about. Two-thousand years old." I was taken aback by this information. Two-thousand years old? That was twice as old as Eric.

"Old don't make you smart."

"Besides, there's no proof."

"If they've got him, I'll hear it," Sookie intervened before Stan and Isabel ripped each other's throats out. "That's my job."

Stan glared at her. "There's no reason to wait. We need to take these fanatics down. Full out attack. Exterminate them like the vermin they are, leave no trace."

I scoffed. This guy was worse than Eric, referring to human beings as 'vermin'. Not to mention the level of stupidity in his plan, and I decided to point it out to him. "Hmm, vampire-hating church annihilated. Wonder who did it? Fucking brilliant." Stan's fangs popped out and he growled at me, but I ignored him and continued," Besides, we can't just kill them. These are human beings we're talking about, and I get that you obviously don't grasp that concept, but they're people too. They're confused and scared and you're-" Eric's hand was on my shoulder before I could finish, warning me not to push any further.

Bill looked from me to Stan and jumped in to distract the agitated vampire from me. "I doubt the king of Texas would approve of the destruction of our international political agenda." Isabel gestured in agreement.

"Fuck that," the cowboy snarled. "The Great Revelation was the biggest mistake we ever made."

" _Don't_ use Godric to make your own little power play," Isabel snapped.

"You're completely incompetent!" Eric roared from behind me, and all heads snapped to him. "What's happened to Godric that he surrounds himself with clowns?"

"We invited you as a courtesy," she leered, stepping closer to him. "This is not your territory. You have no voice here.

"Yeah, sheriff," Stan joined in. "Why don't you run on back down to Louisiana? We don't need you or your puppets."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere," stated Eric.

"And I'm nobody's puppet," I added.

Bill said, "What we need is a plan."

"I _have_ a plan" Stan reinforced.

"It's not a plan, it's a movie," Isabel rolled her eyes.

"It's not a movie. It's a war."

I had to hold back laughter at Stan's words. What he said only proved Isabel's point; his response and the tone in which he said it sounded like it came straight out of a movie. Eric was right, this guy was a clown. Stan was a stupid as they come.

"Idiots," Eric snarled, voicing my inner thoughts, before turning his back to them.

"We take them all out at once, preemptive strike!" Stan insisted further, his voice booming throughout the room.

"Of course," Isabel sneered, "so the federal government can bomb us back into the middle ages!" I sighed. Clearly we weren't through with the bickering, so I sat down on the couch and rubbed my temples. This arguing was getting us nowhere.

"Heh, things were better back then, "snorted Stan.

"Then go to Romania and live in a cave, you ranchero poser!"

I heard Eric grunt behind me and something shattered. I jumped on my seat and turned to see that he had thrown a vase. I was startled by this act of aggression, and quite frankly, a little afraid. I'd never seen Eric so angry. Not when I slapped him in Fangtasia, or when I disobeyed him by leaving the hotel room, or even when I smashed a lamp over his head just a few hours earlier. I shrunk into my seat.

"Godric has protected you," he growled, "made you rich, and you stand here spitting and scratching like infants."

"Don't any of you care that there's a traitor in your midst?" Bill spoke up.

"No," Stan muttered, and I couldn't decide if he meant that he was in shock at learning of a possible traitor, or that he honestly didn't care if there was one.

Isabel, however, seemed sincere when she murmured, "Impossible."

"Someone tried to kidnap me and Lissa from the airport," Sookie told them.

"You were the only ones that knew they were coming," accused Bill.

Eric looked from me and Sookie to the two bickering vampires. "Explain," he demanded.

"Unless it was you," Stan shrugged at Isabel.

"Unless it was you!" she bit back sharply.

"Look, if y'all argue anymore, I'm either gonna fall asleep or start screaming, so this is what we're gonna do," Sookie announced, obviously fed up like the rest of us. Everyone turned to her questionably, waiting to hear what kind of plan the young waitress had cooked up. "I'll infiltrate the Fellowship of the Sun."

"Absolutely not," Bill stepped in.

"Let her speak," Eric insisted. I heard Stan make a groaning noise behind me.

"Since Bill glamoured the kidnapper, no one there knows who I am. I'll pretend I wanna join the church and check out all their thoughts."

"No," Bill said again. "During the day, none of us can help you."

"It will only take a little while," she tried to convince him. "Really, Bill, it's simple."

"Waste of time," Stan shook his head and walked towards the door. He grabbed his cowboy hat and put it on as he muttered, "When we could drink them all. I want no part of this." He left and no one tried to stop him. Honestly, I think we were all happy to see him go.

Isabel seemed much calmer with his absence and gestured towards Sookie. "There's no easier way to find out if they're involved."

"If it leads us to Godric, we'll do it," Eric declared, much to Bill's dismay. "Alessandra will go as well. The decision's made." I perked up at the sound of my name. Normally, I would've refused to let Eric make my decisions for me, but I actually agreed with him. I wanted to go and help Sookie.

Bill wasn't happy at all. "A few words?" he said to Eric, who reluctantly followed him to someplace more private.

I twiddled my thumbs awkwardly as Sookie and I were left alone with Isabel, who we hardly knew. I took a sip from my water bottle I had brought along so the silence wasn't unbearable. She strode up to us with a kind smile on her face.

"So tell me," she mused. "How goes your human-vampire relationships?"

I choked on my mouthful of water and I few drops escaped my lips, which I wiped away quickly. "Oh, no," I mumbled, trying to catch my breath. "Eric and I are _not_ together. You'll have to rely solely on Sookie for that one." Sookie smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, but he's fed from you," Isabel commented gesturing to my scarf. Jeez, was my feeble attempt at covering up the bite that see-through? "And you from him?"

It took me a moment to figure out she meant by that last question, but then I realized she was talking about me drinking Eric's blood. I lowered my gaze, "Well…"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," she assured me. "I've fed my human my blood many times. It's completely normal for anyone dating a vampire."

"I'm not exactly dating him," I laughed nervously.

"But you feel for him?"

I hesitated. I hated Eric Northman, I did. But I couldn't deny these other feelings, feelings I'd had since the moment I met him. They've only intensified since.

Isabel must've caught on, because she said, "There's no use in denying you're feelings. He feels everything you feel. He knows."

A memory flashed before my eyes. _"Don't act like you don't want it," Eric whispered in my ear. "I can feel everything you feel."_ I had wondered what he meant by that before and now was my chance for answers.

"He can...," I gulped, "feel my emotions?"

"Of course," she nodded. "There are many benefits to a blood bond."

"Blood… bond?" I looked to Sookie, who appeared positively guilty.

"I wanted to tell you, Lissa," she pleaded. "I really did. But I knew it would only upset you…"

"Well, of course it would upset me, Sookie!" I snapped harshly, and immediately regretted lashing out at her. Her face swelled with sadness. I sighed. "I'm sorry, Sook. This is all just a lot to handle."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," she said. "I won't keep anything from you ever again, I swear."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not okay. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I forgive you, Sook. I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Eric. I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you when it should be directed elsewhere."

Isabel stood awkwardly before us. "Clearly I've put my nose where it doesn't belong. Perhaps I should go-"

"No, wait!" I stopped her. "The benefits. The other benefits. What are they?"

She looked at me nervously. "I don't believe I should step further into this territory…"

"Please?" I begged, grabbing her arm.

She looked at me with sympathy and sighed. "As I mentioned, he can sense your emotions, which can be of convenience when you're trouble. And he'll be able to know where you are at all times." I groaned internally at this. Just what I needed was for my stalker to have his own personal GPS of me.

She looked suddenly towards the door. "I think I've said enough," she murmured.

"But-" Before I could beg her to spill more, Eric and Bill returned. I understood why she wouldn't say anything else.

"It's settled," Eric announced, and gestured for me to join him. I was still livid with him for the whole blood bond thing, but I reluctantly stood up and moved to his side. He wrapped his arm around my waist and said, "Time to go."

I would simply wait until we were back to the hotel to unleash my wrath on him.


End file.
